


The Devil Inside

by Madaboutagirl



Series: Supergirl - A Series of Villains [6]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-16
Updated: 2016-07-15
Packaged: 2018-07-15 12:03:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 24,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7221610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Madaboutagirl/pseuds/Madaboutagirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Supergirl- A Series of Villains - Part 6: It's been a few weeks since Kara lost her powers and she is unsure if she'll ever get them back. Listening to the devil inside, she worries that she can't protect them when she's powerless, so she pushes everyone away. At Lord Industries, Lena Luthor brings a new project to Max and will be staying in National City as she also tries to win back her ex, who is interested in Kara Danvers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"You can't avoid her forever," Lucy says.

"I'm not avoiding her exactly, I-I just don't go out of my way to see her," Kara replies, "and she's doing the same thing, Carter was in here doing his homework yesterday and she texted him when she was ready to go" she adds.

They sit for a moment and eat their lunch quietly.

"You're avoiding Alex too," Lucy remarks.

Kara sighs, then puts down her fork and stands up and walks over to her desk. "Lucy, Alex is my sister, I love her. But I can't be around her right now. She feels so guilty about everything... it's too hard to be around her," Kara explains.

"Kara, just tell her that. Hell, text it to her, she needs to hear it from you," Lucy says standing up and walking over to her friend.

"I know that it's not her fault, but Lucy it's been almost three weeks. What if my powers don't come back, it's never taken this long before," Kara points out.

"It still doesn't mean that they're gone," Lucy reminds her.

The knock on the door startles both women, they look at each other a moment, then Lucy goes back to sit down and Kara goes to the door.

"Huh, sorry to interrupt your lunch Kara, but Ms Grant wants that media buy breakout report," Emily says nervously.

"She said that she didn't need it until after lunch," Kara protests. "Fine, I'll send it to her in a few minutes. Would you let her know that I am at lunch though."

"Uh, Kara she knows that you're at lunch. She saw her get off the elevator," Emily replies nodding towards Lucy.

"Oh, just tell her I'll send it soon," Kara says waving her off and closing the door. "Great, now Cat's jealous of you bringing me lunch."

"Maybe she just misses having lunch with you," Lucy suggests. "Kara, you have to make the first move, she's not going to put herself out there again until she knows that you won't reject her."

"I never rejected her," Kara protests.

"You basically rejected everyone when you went home to your apartment," Lucy reminds her. "And have you spoken to your cousin?" She asks.

"Yes, he texts me all the time and he's visited too. I think that I've actually seen him more in the past month, than I did in the past two years," Kara admits.

Lucy takes another bite of her salad. She knows that she has said too much and that Kara needs time to process.

Kara sits down at her desk and sends the report to Cat. Then leans back in her chair and stares off.

Lucy watches her friend a moment, then picks up her to go box and shoves it into the bag.

"I'm going to head out," she announces standing up.

Kara pushes away from the desk and walks with her to the door. "Thank you," she says giving her a hug.

"Think about what I said, you need to open up to them. They need it and you need it," she says squeezing the taller woman tightly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kara is walking up to her building after work, it's a bit later than usual and almost dark. She hears a woman cry out.

"Help!"

It only takes her a moment to locate the woman, who is struggling with a man between the two buildings. Without thinking Kara rushes over to help.

"Hey!" Kara shouts as she approaches. "Leave her alone!"

The man cuts the strap on the purse, then shoves the woman to the ground. He then turns around brandishing the knife at Kara. "You want some of this bitch?" He asks menacingly.

"You have her purse … just go," she yells at him.

"Nah, I think you're going to give me your bag first," he says threatening her with the knife.

Kara sets her stuff down on the ground and then puts her hands up, palms out. "Look you should just drop that purse and get out of here, I don't want to have to hurt you," she replies confidently still approaching him slowly.

"Oh, I doubt that's…" he begins to reply, but his words stop as she easily sweeps his legs out from under him and he falls to the ground hard.

Dropping the purse, the man scrambles back to his feet and charges her. Kara dodges him easily, but before she can deliver a blow to knock the knife out of his hand he manages to turn. The knife slashes through her blouse and into her side. But she still manages to shove him against the brick wall and pin him there.

"Police! Stop!" A voice says from behind them.

"Sir drop the knife, now!" A woman's voice adds.

Relieved that the police have responded, Kara slumps to the ground holding her side as blood oozes through the cut.

The female cop calls for an ambulance, while her partner kicks the knife away and cuffs the man.

"The sweep move was a good idea ma'am, but you should have disarmed him first," the woman cop says kneeling down to look at the cut. "This isn't very deep," she adds.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Officer Sawyer, my sister is on her way. You don't need to stay," Kara replies a bit embarrassed that the cop is still sitting there in the chair.

"Sorry, I was just doing my paperwork, Ms Danvers. If it bothers you, I can go do it elsewhere," she says with a sly grin.

"Oh, it's fine. I just thought that you were … nevermind, of course, you can do your paperwork here," Kara says nervously.

"That woman should have just given up her purse. There aren't a lot of people who're willing to step in and help, she's lucky that you did," Officer Sawyer replies closing her portfolio and putting her pen back into her pocket.

"Well, someone else called the police, so I didn't act alone" Kara points out. "And I don't think it's that unusual for people to help others," she adds.

"Ms Danvers, there aren't many people who would take on a mugger with a knife. Now obviously you have a little bit of fight training, but I'm guessing that it has been awhile. You should probably consider brushing up before you go all Supergirl on another mugger," Sawyer jokes.

"Oh, I'm not… My sister, she works… she trained me to fight," Kara stammers. "I just thought I could help that woman... and I didn't realize he had the knife until after I approached him," she explains.

"Somehow, I think you would still have helped her," Sawyer replies watching her curiously.

"Yes, but I would have approached him differently, if I had seen the knife," Kara points out.

Suddenly the curtain is flung back and Alex bursts into the exam area. "Kara, are you okay?" She asks quickly looking her over.

"I'm fine, Alex," Kara says looking over at Officer Sawyer.

Officer Sawyer stands up quickly, when she notices that the small brunette is in full tac gear. "You must be Ms Danvers' sister," she says offering her hand. "Officer Sawyer…. Maggie Sawyer," she adds, now extremely curious about who these women are.

"Agent… Alex Danvers," Alex replies shaking her hand firmly. Taking a moment to size up the officer. "Is there a problem? Why are you still here?" She asks the cop worriedly.

"No problem. I just thought I'd stick around, make sure she was in good hands. She's gonna be sore for a few days," Officer Sawyer remarks nodding at Kara. "Oh and when she's healed up, she needs to brush up on her training if she's gonna go around being a hero again," she adds smiling at Kara.

"Wait, the nurse said that you were mugged," Alex says confused. "She wasn't mugged?" She asks the officer.

"No, she intervened in a mugging. We pulled up just in time to see her sweep the guy's legs, but he charged her before we could intervene," Sawyer explains.

"Kara!" Alex says shaking her head. "You could have been really hurt."

"I didn't know he had a knife until he turned around, then it was too late and I had to do something," Kara explains.

"Okay, well let's get you home and we'll talk about this later," Alex says. Then reaching up to turn on her coms, she says, "Vasquez, is the car out front yet?"

"I can take you, if you need a ride," Sawyer offers.

Alex nods yes to Sawyer, then to Vasquez, she replies, "Uh, negative Vasquez. Go ahead back to base. I've secured a ride here. See you in the morning". Alex then reaches up and turns off the coms. "Okay Kara, let's get you home," she says moving to help her up.

Sawyer moves in on her other side and Kara winces as she stands up. Alex eases up her shirt to look at the bandages on her sister's side. "Jesus Kara," she exclaims, shaking her head and pulling the shirt back down.

"She was really lucky. Sharp reflexes too, she pushed him away, the knife barely got her," Sawyer points out.

"Can we please be done with this now?" Kara groans, moving out of the exam area.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Officer Sawyer seems nice," Alex remarks as they enter Kara's apartment.

"She thinks I'm an idiot," Kara remarks dropping her jacket on a chair and carefully laying down on the couch.

"No, I'm pretty sure she doesn't," Alex says heading into Kara's kitchen and pulling down the bottle of scotch she keeps there.

"She was afraid to leave me alone until you got there," Kara points out.

"Kara, why is it so hard to believe that the incredibly tall and hot Officer Sawyer is attracted to you," Alex counters, as she pours scotch into two glasses.

"Attracted to me?" Kara scoffs. "No, she was just being nice."

Alex laughs. "I see that your inability to detect when someone's flirting with you is intact," she jokes.

Kara shakes her head. "She wasn't flirting with me," Kara protests.

"She was." Alex says firmly as she crosses the room and hands Kara the other drink before sitting down on the couch as Kara sits up to make room for her. "I'm sorry that you were hurt, but I'm glad that you called me," she adds.

"I should have called before now," Kara admits. "Thank you for coming to get me," she adds.

"I'll always come and get you. But when this is healed up, we're getting back into the gym. If you're going to go hand to hand with muggers, you need better moves," Alex teases.

"I didn't plan on doing that Alex. It just happened and I reacted," Kara explains taking a sip of the scotch before setting it down.

"I know, but that's the reality of it. It's your nature to help people, so you need to learn how to do that and stay safe. I can help you... I'd like to help you," Alex offers, taking another sip of her drink and setting it down on the table.

"I'd like that," Kara admits. Then throws her arms around her, "Alex, I'm sorry. I miss you!" she exclaims.

Returning the hug, Alex replies, "I'm sorry too and god, I missed you so much."

A knock at the door interrupts their hug and Alex says, "I told Lucy to meet us here."

"You were right," Kara admits to Lucy when Alex clears away the mess from their impromptu pizza party.

"Of course I was right, so now you're going to talk to Cat?" Lucy asks curiously.

"Yes, I'll talk to her in the morning," Kara replies.

"You haven't talked to Cat yet?" Alex asks overhearing the last comment.

"Uh, no. I don't know what to say to her," Kara exclaims.

"Kara, you apologize for pushing her away. Trust me, that was what I wanted to hear," Alex reminds her.

"Okay, okay, I said that I'll talk to her tomorrow. Now you two should go, it's late and I'm tired," Kara admits.

"Rest up, you're going to have a busy day tomorrow," Alex says smiling mischievously as they walk towards the door.

"What do you mean by that?" Kara asks confused.

"Ten bucks says the hot cop calls to check on you tomorrow," she teases. "And asks you out."

"How hot was she?" Lucy asks.

"Pretty hot," Kara and Alex reply in unison.

"Don't worry Lucy. She's not going to call," Kara replies shooting Alex a look that says stop it, before hugging them both goodbye.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning Cat enters her office to find a steaming hot latte waiting for her. She looks around and spots Kara sitting outside on the patio.

Cat opens the door and leans against it, just staring at her a moment.

"Thank you for the latte," she says taking a sip of it and crossing the balcony.

"I'm sorry," Kara says simply, looking down, unsure about making eye contact.

Cat sets the latte down on the railing and walks back into her office.

Kara looks up confused. Then gets up and follows her into the office.

"Cat," she says looking around the room first, then realizing that there is only one place she could have gone, Kara walks around the corner to her ensuite and knocks lightly. "Cat," she says a bit louder.

"Kara, I told you no apologies. If that's all you have to say to me, then go back to your own office," Cat says flinging the door open.

"I miss you," she blurts out.

"Better," Cat says pushing her back against the wall. Kara winces at the motion and Cat drops her hands.

"Are you okay?" Cat asks concerned.

"I'm fine. Just a little sore," Kara offers. "There was a mugging and I sort of was involved."

"Were you hurt?" Cat asks looking at her carefully.

"Not really, just a cut, it's healing fine," she adds quickly.

"Oh Kara!" Cat blurts out concerned. "I told you that neighborhood is dangerous."

"I wasn't the one being mugged, Cat. I stopped… You know what...nevermind, it's not important. I'm fine, the woman is fine. The guy is in jail," Kara replies embarrassed .

"You can't stop being a hero, can you?" Cat asks softly.

"I guess not," Kara admits.

"I'm glad that you are okay," Cat offers.

"I want to see it, show me," Cat says firmly.

"It's nothing," Kara says not wanting to show her. "But it made me call Alex. And then I wanted to call you, but it was late. So I'm here now and Cat, I miss you. I'm still powerless though, so I understand if you don't want me around," Kara says her voice trailing off.

"You can't possibly think so little of me Kara," Cat spits out angrily.

"Cat, maybe you don't want to admit it, I know that I didn't want to admit it, but the whole superhero thing was part of why we worked. I don't know if just Kara Danvers can make you happy," Kara blurts out.

"You may be right, especially if Kara Danvers is an idiot and a coward!" Cat snaps back at her before storming out of the ensuite and back over to her desk.

Kara comes around the corner and pauses at the desk.

"This is done. The bullpen is filling up. I'm not discussing this any more, not here. Come by tonight so that we can continue this," Cat replies calmly, barely looking up at her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm introducing two of the new characters announced for Season 2, but I don't know much about them so I've created my own back story for them. I don't think spoiler alerts are needed since the odds are none of this is close to canon.
> 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You can't be serious!" Lena Luthor exclaims.

"Yes, I'm shutting it down Lena. There's too much at stake if people find out we're experimenting on our employees," Lex Luthor explains.

"We're not experimenting on them. We're making sure that they're being treated properly after an industrial accident," she reminds him.

"No, Lena that's what I was doing, you on the other hand, you're experimenting on them and it's over," he counters. "In fact, the board has voted you out."

"Luthor Industries is our legacy. Lex you can't fire me!" She protests.

"I didn't fire you. The Board voted for your removal as Chief Operations Officer," he informs her smugly. "Come on Lena, you knew this was coming," Lex chides her.

"Don't think for a minute that I don't know that you did this. You think that you can use me as a scapegoat and once I'm gone, they'll look the other way again," she says seething with anger.

"Lena, take some time off. You've been taking too many risks. I may not have liked your last girlfriend, but at least you were more level headed with her around," he points out.

"She doesn't have anything to do with this, Lex." Lena snaps again. "And you practically drove her out of town yourself!"

"Lena, that was to protect you. You were practically stalking her after your break up. And I tried to reason with you first," Lex reminds her. 'Just do the right thing and step down quietly. Take a vacation and in a few months, come back and we'll work something out," he says wanting to appear reasonable.

"You know Lex, you're right. I definitely need some time away from Metropolis," Lena replies already considering her next move. "I'll be in touch," she says arching a brow.

"Take care now," he adds as she opens the door to leave.

He waits a few minutes to make sure that she doesn't come back, then picks up the phone.

"Pick them all up and bring them to the lab, it's time to begin the next phase," he snaps into the phone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What's this?" Alex asks when Kara hands her the ten dollar bill as she enters the apartment.

"Hot cop called and I'm meeting her for coffee in the morning before work," Kara replies walking away from the door.

"Ha! I knew it," Alex says smugly closing the door behind her. "Wait, what happened with Cat this morning?" She asks.

"Don't ask. I screwed it up. She called me an idiot and a coward," Kara replies walking back over to the unfinished painting she left on the easel.

"Well..." Alex begins, "tell me what happened."

"I told her that I would understand if she didn't want me around now that I'm powerless," Kara answers.

"Kara, you don't really think that, do you?" Alex asks crossing the room.

"I also said that we need to admit that the superhero thing was what makes us work," Kara continues walking over to sit on the couch.

"Oh Kara, no wonder she called you an idiot. Honey, do you really think that Cat was only attracted to Supergirl?" Alex asks leaning on the back of the couch.

"Alex, I know that she's attracted to me, but for two years she never acted on it. Then I became Supergirl, so yes she's attracted to Kara Danvers, but the only reason that we got together was because of Supergirl," Kara points out.

"You really believe that?" Alex questions.

"Alex you said as much when we first got together," Kara reminds her.

"Well yeah, but that was before. I don't think that now," Alex counters.

"Look how easily she let me go," Kara says.

"She did what you asked her to do," Alex points out.

"Exactly and when has she ever done that!" Kara exclaims.

"So, your solution is to go out with Officer Sawyer," Alex remarks.

"No, I'm not going out with her, it's just coffee. And at least she sees me as me," Kara points out.

Alex is about to change the dressing on Kara's side when the pounding on the door startles them both. Alex reaches for her gun, but Kara grimaces, sure that it's her neighbor's boyfriend again. "Hold on," she says lowering her shirt to cover the wound and heading over to the door with Alex following closely.

"Kara, open this door. You may be a coward, but we are going to finish this conversation!" Cat yells.

Alex holsters her weapon and smiles as Kara opens the door, "Cat?" She asks confused.

"Kara, now you listen to me," Cat begins pushing her way into the apartment as Kara backs up quickly.

Behind them, Alex clears her throat. "Uh, hey Cat," Alex says loudly. "I was just changing Kara's dressing, then I'll be going." She says grabbing Kara's hand and pulling her back towards the bedroom.

"So, I was supposed to go to her place tonight to talk, but then you were running late," Kara explains as they return to her bedroom.

"This could have waited Kara!" Alex hisses. "A pissed off Cat Grant doesn't wait!"

The bedroom door opens and Cat clears her throat, "No, she doesn't," she says firmly as she enters the room. Then gesturing to Alex, she demands, "Now let me see it."

Alex begins to lift up Kara's shirt, but Kara pulls it back down.

"No Cat, please wait outside. This will just take a minute," Kara says not wanting Cat to see her like this.

"Kara, may I see it? I need to see that you are okay," Cat says softer.

Kara relents and pulls the shirt up slowly.

Cat gasps. "Oh Kara, that's going to scar," she says reaching out to touch it lightly.

Kara flinches, "Well, it will be my first one," she jokes, hoping to lighten things between them.

Cat pulls her hand away and steps back out of the way.

Alex smiles tightly at the joke. Then quickly redresses the wound. "Keep it dry and I'll be back tomorrow to check it again," she says as Kara pulls her shirt back down. "I'll, uh, see myself out," she adds before leaving the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You were really hurt," Cat remarks walking back towards Kara. "And I wouldn't have known," she frowns.

"Cat," Kara says sitting down on the couch. "If it was serious, you know that Alex or Lucy would have told you. But it wasn't, I mean I didn't even make the Tribune crime blog," she adds.

"Actually, you did. I found it this morning, after... well after we talked and I had it removed," Cat replies, sitting down on the other end of the couch.

They pause for a moment, each getting up their courage to have the conversation each of them has practised a hundred times in their head.

"Kara, these past few weeks have not been easy for me. Eliza told me to give you time and space and that's what I did. I didn't agree, but she said that's what you needed so I did it. But please know that I wanted to be here with you, I didn't want you to go through this alone," Cat explains.

"Cat, that's not what this is about," Kara remarks sitting down beside her. "Everyone I love is in danger, because I can't protect them, the least I can do is to keep my distance from you, it's the only thing I can do to keep you safe."

"But Kara, you don't have to be alone. I have security and god knows I could have more of them around if I needed or wanted them, but I don't need them. I need you," Cat admits carefully. "This morning you said that I would never be happy with Kara Danvers, but you're wrong. Give me a chance to prove that to you."

"I'm not the same person without powers. I've changed Cat. I've lost my Sunny Danvers charm. I'm moody and surly. I can spend a whole day painting and not even think about anyone else. I've lost my appetite, I don't sleep well and sometimes I am afraid to leave this apartment, because without powers the world is a scary place," Kara explains.

Ignoring her, Cat gets up and roams through the loft, "You've been painting," Cat says. "This is quite good, I like the colors," she says pointing to one.

"That's the sunset from your beach house," Kara remarks, confused that Cat's ignoring everything she just said.

"Hmm," Cat murmurs as she makes her way around the pieces laid here and there against the wall. "This is a sunrise from the Penthouse, I think," she says touching another one.

"Cat, I thought that you wanted to talk," Kara says approaching her. "I just told you everything that I've been holding back."

"I do want to talk, but it's obvious that you've made up your mind. And now all you want to do is whine about how hard things are for you. Well Kara, you wanted a normal life and now you have one, deal with it," Cat says turning abruptly to go. "Wallowing in what you've lost is a waste of time."

"Cat, I-I'm not wallowing... I-I feel untethered, adrift. I don't know how to do this again," Kara replies moving quickly to stop her from leaving. "And I haven't made up my mind about anything," she adds.

"So you sit here alone, painting the world you knew before, just like you painted Krypton when you first arrived on earth," Cat says softly, understanding a bit more, as she approaches her and reaches out, lightly running the back of hand along her jaw.

Kara looks away from her, unable to make eye contact. Then looking back at Cat she sees pain, or is it empathy reflected in her eyes.

Cat looks away quickly and walks back towards the door. "You need something that you can sink your teeth into. Meet me in the office first thing tomorrow morning, I have just the project in mind," Cat says her eyes flashing excitedly.

"I, um, I have a thing in the morning," Kara mumbles.

"What kind of thing?" Cat asks concerned.

"I'm meeting with the police," Kara replies, reminding herself that every good lie has a little truth to it.

"Oh, well I'll have Angie push back my 9 o'clock," Cat says pulling out her phone to send her assistant a message.

"Cat, don't." Kara says reaching out for her arm. "Please don't think that this is something that you can fix," she adds.

"I'm not trying to fix anything, but I know how to help you," Cat replies confidently. "I've had my share of setbacks Kara, you can't stop to admire them, you have to push them out of the way."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Did you ever meet Superman?" Kara asks smiling brightly.

"Ah, tell someone that you lived in Metropolis and that's always what they want to know first," Maggie teases.

Kara is about to apologize when Maggie places a hand on her arm and continues.

"Yes, I did meet him a few times, seems like a decent guy, but I'm not the type of girl to swoon over heroes. I'm my own hero," she explains. "Is he a hero to you?"

"Yes, anyone who gives up so much of themselves to keep others safe is definitely a hero in my book," Kara replies.

"So by that definition, am I a hero?" Maggie questions leaning in.

"Of course, and so is my sister. But then she's been my personal hero for a long time. Do you have brothers or sisters?" Kara asks.

"I have an older brother, but he works in finance on the east coast. I haven't seen him in a long time, obviously we're not close," she replies, shifting in her seat uncomfortably.

"Oh, I'm sorry, just family is kind of important to me. I lost my parents when I was young and Alex and her Mom are my second family," Kara explains.

"Kara, you're fortunate to have a sister like Alex," Maggie says reaching over again to squeeze Kara's arm.

"Thank you," Kara remarks and then they both look around the coffee shop nervously.

"You know ever since Supergirl disappeared, more people are intervening to help each other," Maggie remarks pointing at the tv, where there's a story questioning Supergirl's whereabouts.

Kara looks across the table at her carefully before replying, "People find her inspiring."

"Yes, but she's inspiring them to put themselves in danger, like you did," Maggie points out.

"But I wasn't hurt that badly and you showed up to arrest him," Kara counters with a smile.

"Yes, but if we hadn't of shown up when we did, you could have been hurt worse," Maggie points out.

"Or he would have been hurt worse, my Krav Maga training was kicking in," Kara counters.

Maggie smiles at the thought of Kara hurting the mugger.

"Oh, you did not just give me the 'sure, Kara' smile," Kara protests.

"Kara, looking at you, it's difficult to picture you hurting anyone," Maggie says trying to explain. "I mean, you don't exactly look that tough," she adds, her eyes roaming over Kara's blouse and skirt.

"Well, you don't look very tough right now either," Kara remarks, noting the relaxed posture and the open collared shirt that's showing off her collar bones. "I didn't realize that I was getting you up so early on your day off," she adds apologetic.

"It's not my day off, I work second shift. But since you mentioned it, my day off is Thursday, maybe we could have dinner," Maggie suggests.

"Uh… Maggie, I-I'm not exactly single," Kara admits shyly. "My ex is... uh, we are sort of on a break and it's complicated... we work together," she adds.

"Kara, I like you. I want to get to know you…It doesn't have to be a date, yet," Maggie replies.

Kara smiles, she wants to see her again. "Okay, I'd like to have dinner with you," Kara agrees. "But as friends."

"As friends, but just so we're clear, friendship is not what I'm aiming for," Maggie replies.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yikes, I didn't realize that I had made Kara so unlikeable, it wasn't my intention. I just felt that the possibility of losing her powers permanently would really freak her out and that she would isolate herself a bit. SuperCat is always endgame though!
> 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey," Alex says entering Kara's office. "What's up? Why are you working so late?"

"I... well Cat decided that I needed something to work on that would consume me, apparently," Kara replies gesturing to the files surrounding her.

"Oh and what is it exactly?" Alex asks looking at the stack of files.

"Alex, do you remember the expose on Maxwell Lord that I wrote, that didn't pass legal? Well, Cat wants us to take another run at it. She's given me a new angle," Kara explains tapping the stack of files.

"I guess she knows you better than I thought," Alex remarks.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kara asks confused.

"Well, why do you think I wanted to get you back in the gym?" Alex questions.

"Alex, this isn't something either of you can fix with a project or a workout. I was invincible...bulletproof and now a two-bit thief with a knife cut me and sent me to the hospital. Do you have any idea what that feels like?" Kara asks angrily.

"No. I can't imagine," Alex admits honestly running her hand through her hair.

"I've lost who I was Alex. The world out there is terrifying without super powers. I'm scared to open my door for the pizza guy, because I can't see through the door to make sure it's him," she explains. "Did you know that it takes 35 minutes to walk to CATCO from my place without superpowers?

"Why don't you just take the bus?" Alex asks.

"There's this guy who just stares at me, like the whole time, it's creepy and probably nothing," Kara remarks dismissively.

"Well, I'll take the bus with you tomorrow and have check him out," Alex offers angrily.

"No, that's not the point. Alex, I feel as lost now as I did when I first came to this planet. I'm scared all the time, it's exhausting," Kara admits.

"Then I'll talk to James and Winn, we'll take turns picking you up for work," Alex suggests. "Or you could get a car, you know how to drive," she reminds her.

"No, that's not the answer and I hate to drive. Look, I will figure it out on my own," Kara replies. "I can't have you holding my hand again. It didn't help the first time, it won't help now," she reminds her.

Alex sighs. She hates feeling helpless, which is actually the point that Kara's trying to make. "Okay," Alex replies. "Wait, did you really want me to change the dressing here or did you just want a ride home?" she asks.

"I just wanted a ride home," Kara admits reluctantly.

"Okay, but we are grabbing some dinner on the way, I'm starving," she says heading out the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Uh...how was your coffee date this morning?" Alex asks when they get into the car. "And how long has she been on NCPD? How come we never met her before?"

"It wasn't a date and it was fine, although she did admit that she's not a fan of Supergirl. And she just moved here from Metropolis a few months ago. She's not really a Superman fan either," Kara remarks.

Alex laughs at that then asks, "Single?"

"Yes. And yes, I told her that I'm not single, or ready to date," Kara explains.

"How did she respond to that?" Alex asks.

"She asked me to have dinner with her tomorrow night," Kara answers. "I said yes, but only if we go as friends, so it's not a date."

"She agreed to be friends?" Alex asks surprised.

"No, but she agreed to have dinner as friends," Kara answers. "She made it quite clear that she doesn't want to be just friends."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I know that you haven't asked, but I think you're fooling yourself if you think that this dinner date is innocent because she agreed to go as friends." Alex remarks as Kara unpacks the take out and they begin filling their plates..

"Alex, it's not like I'm cheating on her. It's just dinner with a friend," Kara reminds her.

"Did you tell her about it?" Alex asks. As they both move to the couch to eat.

"No, but only because things are complicated right now and I don't want her to be upset about it," Kara replies.

"Kara, you didn't tell her because you know that it's going to upset her. And it's bullshit because she's been more than patient with you and now you're spending time with someone else," Alex points out.

"Alex, Cat isn't a patient person. If she's being patient with me, it's not a good sign," Kara counters defensively.

"Or it's a sign that she's changed, people can change Kara," Alex replies.

"I know people can change. I've changed, Alex. I'm a different person without my powers. What if she doesn't like me now?" Kara asks.

"Kara stop. You need to give all of us a chance. Do you really think so little of yourself and us, that we won't love you if you've lost your powers?" Alex queries.

"I... Alex, no. It's just that it may not be safe for anyone to be around me. My mother's enemies are still out there looking for Supergirl," Kara begins to protest.

"Well Supergirl is MIA. And you left the suit at the DEO. Now there really isn't much of a chance of anyone coming after you, so you need to think about what's really going on in there," Alex counters reaching over and tapping Kara's temple.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Why bring this to me? What is it you think Lord Technology can do with this project that Luthor Industries can't?" Max asks turning around to face her.

"I know about Prometheus Lab and Project MH29," Lena replies. "And I have isolated the DNA sequence that was altered during the accident. It was the same for all of them and they all exhibit the same inability to feel pain, I've mapped their genomes and have created stem cells with their DNA. I don't think I need to point out how these stem cells can be used," she adds provocatively.

"How could you possibly know about MH29?" Max asks looking at her curiously.

"The scientific community doing stem cell research on meta humans is a rather small group," Lena points out.

"Yes, and most of them work for me," he counters. "They shouldn't be talking to you," Max adds concerned.

"Mr Lord, do you really think that your people would risk their jobs talking to me?" Lena asks.

"How else would you know about this project?" He replies.

"You mentioned it over drinks with my brother Lex," she answers.

"I didn't realize that you and Lex were that close?" He remarks.

"We were, obviously not now, since he seems to have grown a conscious," she quips.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Kara," Cat says following her into her small office. "Textind during the meeting is unexceptable," she adds with a frown.

"It's Carter, he's trying to ask Chelsea out and he's asking me for help," Kara replies moving around her desk to pick up the stack of files that she knows Cat wants to review.

"Well, obviously he's not that serious about her or he'd ask me for help," Cat retorts with her usual snark.

"Cat, seriously?" Kara asks, smiling at her. "You think that you have game?"

"I know that I have 'game'," Cat retorts looking down her glasses at her..

"Ordering people to go out with you isn't 'game'." She teases.

"I did not order you to go out with me, although it almost came to that," Cat replies dryly.

"Well, you do have that breathy thing that you do," Kara admits with an easy smile. "But that won't work for Carter, he should probably ask Alex for help," she confesses.

"I don't think that I want my son asking your sister for dating advice," Cat remarks, shaking off that idea. "But when you're done advising my thirteen year old son on how to do whatever it is, pass me that stack of files."

"He just wants to ask her to go to the Science Fair, Cat. It's not a movie premier on the red carpet," Kara teases.

"Well, you say that because you haven't been to the St Edmonds Science Fair, it's practically a red carpet event for thirteen year olds," Cat jokes.

"I went last year and it wasn't that bad," Kara reminds her.

"Oh right," Cat says embarrassed that she forgot about Kara attending the science fair after Carter asked her to help him with his project on water filtration last year before they were dating.

Kara hands her the files and smiles, because she's missed this. How did she forget what it felt like to be a part of Cat's life.

Cat takes the files, but pauses a moment as their hands touch.

"What do you think of this?" Kara asks reaching past her for the laptop to show her the spreadsheet that she was working on earlier.

Cat moves closer to her and Kara has to place her arm along the back of the couch or they would be nose to nose. Cat adjusts again so that they are breathing the same air. Kara smiles, understanding exactly what Cat wants to do, and she meets her halfway for a soft and tentative kiss.

"Mmm," Kara murmurs, adjusting her position to deepen the kiss.

Cat pushes the computer away and pulls Kara closer. It's been several weeks since they've been this close and Cat isn't going to let the opportunity pass, especially when Kara kisses her like this.

Kara moans softly, her body's response to Cat betraying how much she has missed this, but then suddenly she pulls away, remembering where they are.

Cat opens her eyes confused at the loss of contact.

"Uh, the door isn't locked," Kara says standing up on shaky legs.

"Lock. The. Door." Cat says firmly.

"Cat, not here, not like this," Kara says walking over to her desk and leaning against it.

"Then come home with me tonight and we can pick up where we left off," Cat suggests.

"I-I have... we can't. I don't want us to rush back into this," Kara replies quickly.

"Fine," Cat snaps pulling herself together. "We'll slow down."

"Cat, w-would you come over Saturday for dinner?" Kara asks hesitantly. "I know that we usually meet at your place, but would you come to mine?"

"Okay, but Kara, you don't cook," Cat replies eyeing her carefully.

"I do cook. And Eliza just taught me how to make Chicken Francese," Kara says smiling brightly.

"Hmm, it won't be take out?" Cat teases.

"No take out. An actual home cooked meal," Kara promises.

"I'll be there. May I bring the wine and dessert?" Cat asks.

"Yes," Kara replies pleased that she's agreed to come over.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The rest of the day, Cat was distracted. Her mind has been flooded with a montage of memories of Kara since they kissed this afternoon. And when she left for her last meeting of the day, she told Emily to leave early. The poor girl has been a saint through all of this, Kara did train her well. Now, sitting on her balcony at the end of the day, alone with a drink, Cat can't help but miss her hero and her impromptu visits. She saw a little bit of that side of Kara today as she's finding her footing again. This project seems to have been the right choice, so tomorrow, Cat's going to up the ante with another assignment for her girlfriend.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Her lips still tingling and her body keyed up from kissing Cat. Kara sits in the sun on the roof of CATCO. Feeling the wind whipping around her and the warmth of the sun on her face, she takes a breath and remembers back to the night she told Cat that she was in love with her and wanted more. Cat didn't hesitate to admit that she too was in love with Kara, but she confessed that she wasn't sure that she would be enough for her. Kara understands that now, because ever since she lost her powers all she can think about is whether she is enough for Cat Grant.

Pulling out her phone she quickly texts Maggie to cancel dinner.

_I need to cancel dinner. Kara sends._

_Can we reschedule? Maggie asks._

_No. Kara replies._

_Can I call you later? She asks._

_Not a good idea. Kara sends quickly._


	4. Chapter 4

"Okay, let's see it then," Max replies as he walks up to the fire pit.

"Raf, go ahead," Lena calls out. Then waits for him to begin the demonstration. The slight built man approaches the fire pit and doesn't even flinch as he walks across the hot sharp stones. The blonde smiles watching him sit down on the bench before holding up his feet to show off the blisters and cuts.

Impressed, Max turns to her. "How fast does he heal?"

"Raf, come here," Lena says waving him over. The dark haired man places his feet on the ground without hesitating before walking over to them. She takes his arm and he lifts up one foot and then the other to show all that remains are deep scratches.

"It's already healed, about the same as the aliens," she points out and nods for him to return to the bench.

"He seems agreeable to the tests, how are you managing that?" Max asks once the man is out of earshot.

"His family is being well cared for as long as he's part of this project," she remarks.

"Does he understand what your intentions are?" Max asks her.

Lena looks ahead, before responding, carefully weighing her response.

"I don't think that he cares and you and I both know that is something that we can address in the lab," Lena replies with a dangerous smile.

"I see. Well, I am impressed... so far, but I'm not sure this is enough for me to bring you in on my project," Max replies feigning disinterest.

"Max, your latest prototype suffered serious burns and is currently sidelined with a staph infection," Lena says crossing her arms confidently. "You inject my guy with your stem cells and he'll be the perfect prototype in a few days. I can see it in your face, you know that if he's injured testing out the new powers, he will heal quickly with no infection," she points out.

"Why would I give your guy more powers. He's not my guy, I don't control him, you do," Max counters.

"You don't trust me?" Lena asks. "I'm hurt Max," she teases.

"You expect me to trust a Luthor after what your father tried to do to me?" Max reminds her.

"My father is gone Max. And my brother doesn't really have the stomach for this. He's content to play cat and mouse games with Superman," Lena points out.

"And what is it exactly that you want from this collaboration?" Max asks her.

"I want, what you want Max. An army of meta-humans at my disposal to not only protect us from the alien threats, but destroy them. Superman and Supergirl don't finish the job and now we have cells full of aliens just waiting to break free and get their revenge. The world needs our protection Max," she explains. "We're the only ones strong enough to make the tough choices."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Um, you wanted to see me, Ms Grant?" Kara asks entering the office tentatively glancing over at James who continues to look straight ahead, all but ignoring her.

"Yes Kara, I had an interesting phone call from Lois Lane," Cat says walking around her desk. "It would seem that Lena Luthor is on the move and may be in National City. If that is true, then there is only one reason for her to be here."

"Lord Technology," Kara gasps.

"Yes, we need to find out if she has been seen there recently. And I've decided that you and James should work together on this," Cat informs her.

"Cat, Kara isn't a reporter. There's no point sending both of us to Lord Technology. They will recognize us immediately and no one there will talk to us. I'm sorry, I just don't understand why you are insisting that we cover this," James argues.

"It's exactly because you are both easily identifiable that I want you over there. I want you to go in high profile, if security makes you leave, that's even better," Cat explains. "We know that Max runs roughshod over those people, I'm betting that there's someone there ready to break ranks."

"You just want us to sit there and wait for someone to break rank?" Kara questions.

"No, I want you to go over there and report, part of your story will be their reaction to you being there. If he's really got something underwraps his reaction will be strong, if he ignores you then we'll wrap it up," Cat points out annoyed a little that neither of them seem to understand her strategy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Kara, that's wasn't about you. I would argue that point for anyone that she was sending out into the field with me the first time," James explains when they step into the elevator.

"No, your argument was specific to me James. It's true that I don't have reporting experience and Lord's security team will recognize me on sight after my last visit there. How many people can say that?" She questions.

"Okay, you're right about that," he agrees uncomfortably. "Uh, I'm sorry. I just... How have you been?" He blurts out changing the subject.

Kara smiles slightly and silently agrees to let it ago. "I don't know. Just when I think it's getting easier, something happens to remind me that I don't have..." her voice breaks and she looks down.

"Kara, I can't imagine what you're going through, but I know you. And you are amazing with or without superpowers," James reminds her.

"Everyone keeps saying that, but none of you really understand what I've lost," Kara retorts sharply.

"That's true," James agrees. "But you don't really understand what you are to us. Those powers are just a fraction of what makes you special. If you could only see yourself the way that we see you," he adds.

Cat is sending them alongside of her CATCO news team, so when the elevator opens the van is waiting for them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Jimmy Olsen and Kara Danvers, Cat Grant's pet news team, I presume," the reporter quips as the van takes off. "I'm Nick, Nick Farrow," he says extending his hand to James.

"James Olsen," James replies taking the offered hand and squeezing it firmly. "Art Director for CATCO Worldwide Media. And this is Kara Danvers a special assignments editor for both The Tribune and CATCO Media," he says annoyed at them being referred to as Cat's pets.

"Welcome to CATCO, Mr Farrow," Kara says politely.

Nick swallows hard, still annoyed at getting sent on a double team with non reporters. "Sorry if that came off wrong Mr Olsen, but I know why I'm on the story. I just don't know why she's sending the two of you out with me," Farrow explains, not exactly apologizing for his comment.

"Lord sort of knows us and Ms Grant is betting that his reaction to us being here will be different than just you," James offers as an explanation.

"Hmm," Farrow replies eyeing them curiously. He didn't have much time to prepare for this assignment, so he's going to have to tread more lightly, he suddenly realizes.

The van pulls up to Lord Technologies and Kara and James climb out of the van first, followed by Farrow and Martin, the cameraman.

"What's the plan Mr Olsen," Farrow asks politely, deciding it's in his best interest to defer to the department head.

"For starters, Martin should set up here on the sidewalk across from the building, Ms Grant wants new stock footage of the building for an upcoming piece," James remarks.

"An upcoming story?" Farrow asks. "Who's working on that?"

James glances over at Kara briefly, but Farrow catches it.

"Seriously? Grant gave you a special assignment on Maxwell Lord?" Farrow asks turning to Kara.

"Actually, I pitched it and I've been working on it for months," Kara replies, suddenly feeling more confident as she remembers all the work that she has put into exposing Lord and the look on Cat's face when she brought it to her.

"A word of advice Mr Farrow, it's not easy to get close to Cat Grant," James remarks, "So anyone who is, is someone you should respect."

Kara hides her smile, then realizes her phone is vibrating with a text from Cat.

_Anything yet? Cat asks._

_Nothing. Just getting to know Nick Farrow. Thanks for that. Kara replies._

_No doubt he's as full of himself as his father. Cat remarks._

Kara glances up from her phone and points out the black SUV pulling up.

James aims his camera and zooms in to see Max Lord climbing out of the van followed by a tall blond woman and another smaller man. He snaps several photos. He has seen the Luthor family often enough to recognize Lena Luthor on sight, but he's not sure who the smaller man is.

Max climbs out of the SUV and glances down the street before pointing in their direction and calling out to the guards.

Kara and James cross the street together and the security guards move quickly to cut them off.

"Mr Lord," James calls out. "Can you comment on your meeting with Lena Luthor?"

The guard stops halfway and then moves quickly to his left to cut off Farrow and the cameraman, who are rushing over to the SUV.

Picking up on James question, Farrow calls out, "Mr Lord, any comment as to why you are meeting with Lena Luthor? Ms Luthor, are you teaming up with Lord after being forced out of Luthor Industries?".

"No comment. Get him out of here!" Max yells as additional security guards come out of the building. "Them too. I want all of them gone!" he adds angrily as Lena whips around to respond.

"I am still a stakeholder in Luthor Industries!" Lena can't help but respond.

"Your brother forced you out of Operations. Do you have a comment on that?" Farrow asks quickly.

"No she doesn't," Max says stepping in front of her and glaring at his security guards to shut this down.

"Public sidewalk Mr Lord, you can't make us leave," James says as he and Kara step off the driveway and back to the sidewalk.

Farrow and the cameraman quickly do the same and the security guards stand in front of them and glare collectively.

The stalemate continues for a few minutes as the guards glare at them. But James and Kara stand their ground and eventually Lord calls them off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Okay, that was kind of cool," Kara says once they are back in James' office going over the photos that he took.

"There's nothing like that surge of adrenaline when you realize that you're onto something," James remarks excitedly.

"What do you think is going on?" Kara asks.

"I'm not sure yet, but Cat was right. There's something there that he doesn't want us to know about," James points out. "And I think it has to do with this guy," he adds pulling up a photo of the man walking between Lena and Max.

"His name is Rafael Martinez, he was injured in an industrial accident last year at Luthor Industries. Twelve people were hurt, 2 died and the remaining have been housed in a care center just outside of Metropolis. It's also owned by Luthor Industries," Farrow says entering Olsen's office.

Kara and James turn to face the reporter.

"How did you ID him so quickly?" James asks.

"Got lucky," Farrow quips. "So what's the connection between an accident at Luthor Industries and Maxwell Lord?" He asks.

"Who says that is the connection we're looking for?" Kara asks. "Maybe it's personal, Lena and Max could be dating," she suggests.

Nick and James look at each other and smile.

"Kara, that's not it either," James replies.

"Lena doesn't date guys," Nick adds. "In fact, I did some digging around and her last girlfriend recently moved to National City, so she may be here for a few reasons," he points out.

"Your theory is that Lena has brought an injured employee to Maxwell Lord for some sort of treatment? He's not a physician, he's a scientist." Kara counters. "And she's doing this because she's chasing after her ex-girlfriend?"

"I'm not saying any of that," Nick bristles. "I'm assembling facts, not tying them together with conjecture," he says rolling his eyes at her.

Just then Kara's phone rings and she steps out of the office to take the call.

"Look, I just thought you'd like to know what I found out so far. I'm not sure what we're doing here. This assignment was rather vague, but this looks like it could get interesting, so maybe we should meet later and compare notes," Farrow suggests to Olsen in Kara's absence. 

Before James can respond, Kara is at the doorway.

"Ms Grant wants us to meet in her office in 15 minutes, bring everything you have," Kara says stepping back into the office.


	5. Chapter 5

Maggie pulls up to Lord Industries with her partner, Brett Miller, to respond to the 911 call reporting trespassers. They meet with the new Chief of security, Matt Lawson, and review the security footage. It's obvious that the CATCO team carefully avoided breaking any laws, so there is nothing for them to do and the security chief knows that, but the two officers quietly review the footage.

"See, that is Kara Danvers," he says pointing at the screen. "She has threatened Mr Lord before and we're advising him to file a restraining order against her," the man explains.

Maggie hides her smile, the thought of anyone filing a restraining order against Kara Danvers is definitely amusing, but she can't show it.

"How exactly did Ms Danvers threaten Mr Lord? We have no record of a previous altercation," Officer Miller asks, neither letting on that they've met the young woman.

"It wasn't reported, but she showed up unannounced a few weeks ago and forced her way into his office," Lawson begins to explain, but is interrupted by another officer. He steps out of the room and the two police officers exchange curious looks.

A few minutes later he returns. "Please disregard my previous statement, any past altercations with Ms Danvers are not pertinent to this case," he replies.

"Mr Lawson, this footage doesn't show that the CATCO employees broke any laws. They stepped onto your property, but they also stepped back as soon as they were asked to," Maggie explains, carefully hiding her reaction to spotting her ex standing beside Maxwell Lord.

"Officers, I'm sorry that we called you prematurely. Mr Lord has requested that we not file a report at this time," Lawson explains turning off the monitors.

The two officers share a glance, but decide not to ask anything further before giving their usual instructions and heading out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once they are back in their squad car, Maggie turns to her partner, "What the hell do you think that was about?" she asks.

"Above my pay grade, but I'm sure it's not over. CATCO Media enjoys this sort of thing, but Lord's people don't usually let us in like that. My guess, is that the new guy is about to get reamed by Lord for calling us and showing us that footage," Miller points out.

"Well, there were a few others in the video, did you recognize them?" Maggie asks, not wanting to be the one to point out Lena Luthor.

"You mean your ex Lena Luthor?" He retorts.

Maggie groans. "How did you know about her?" She asks.

"I wanted to know why you transferred from Metropolis, so I called a buddy there and he told me the rumors about you and Luthor. Did you know that she was here?" He asks.

"I had no idea that she was in town," Maggie replies with a sigh, realizing that it's only a matter of time now before Lena tracks her down again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Boys leave. Girl stay," Cat says dismissing James and Farrow after their meeting.

Both men stand up, clearly neither is happy to be dismissed with Kara remaining behind.

"Ms Grant, with all due respect, I think that I would be an asset to this expose," Nick points out.

"Mr Farrow, you have been dismissed. If and when your expertise is needed, you will be called back in. James, perhaps you can help him find the way out," Cat quips, calmly folding her hands in front of her on the desk.

As soon as the two men turn to leave, she removes her glasses and stands up. "Kara," she says nodding towards the balcony.

Kara follows her outside.

"I don't understand, why have him go out with us if you don't want him to help on the story?" Kara asks curiously.

"He's an investigative journalist, Kara. Now he's going to investigate Max Lord to try to figure out what we're working on," Cat explains. "At the least he will validate our research, but there's also the chance that he could find something that we missed," she adds encouragingly.

"You think that we missed something?" Kara asks concerned.

"No, but there was a lot of data to go through, it won't hurt to have him sift through it and see what he finds," Cat replies.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I want everything you can find on Rafael Martinez and his family," Max says into the phone.

"You really don't trust me?" Lena says entering his office.

"I don't have a positive history with the Luthor family," Max reminds her.

"My father was behind Project Cadamus, did you know that?" Lena asks him as she prowls around his office.

"How would Lionel Luthor be privy to a secret government project like Cadamus?" Max questions.

"General Lane reached out to him, though he wasn't a general then," Lena explains. "The military sought out individuals with alien experiences and everyone knows about Lionel and Superman's history, so they tapped my father to help set it up."

"What exactly did Lionel assist with?" Max asks.

"Luthor industries supplied the containment center used to process them and contain them," Lena offers. "Interesting how Lex just bid to upgrade it for them too."

"Wait, you're saying that Luthor Industries is still contracted by Project Cadamus... You know the location of the facility?" He blurts out.

"I don't. But Lex does," Lena replies. "What didn't he mention that to you? Aw, and here I thought you two were so close," she adds with a sly smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Yes Mr Farrow, you have something that can't wait until Monday," Cat remarks when the reporter enters her office near the end of the day.

"I think you should know that I have been looking into Lord Industries and I know that you have it assigned to Danvers, but I just wanted to take a look and see what I could find out," he explains carefully.

Cat nods slightly, not wanting to let on that this was exactly what she wanted from him.

"Lord Industries has had multiple government contracts through Prometheus Labs, one of his subsidiaries," Farrow explains.

"I am aware of that," Cat replies dryly, happily taking a bit of wind out of his sails.

Nick furrows his brow, before continuing. "Well, the government contracts vary, some don't really seem like much at all. But then I compared them to his patent applications and suddenly a pattern emerges. At least seventeen of his patents appear to be related to past government contracts. This would be in direct violation of the profiteering clause, which prohibits contractors from profiting from the government contracts," he says showing Cat the spreadsheet.

Cat smiles slightly, it is quite similar to the one Kara put together when she did this same research.

"Well Mr Farrow, it looks like you've done quite a bit of research today. I'll take some time to review it this weekend and we can meet again on Monday," she remarks unenthusiastically.

Nick watches her carefully. "Actually, I didn't have to do much of this research, my source at the GAO tells me that there is an open investigation into Prometheus labs. In fact, an anonymous source sent this spreadsheet to them, which is where I got it" he explains anxiously. Then running his hands through his hair, he asks, "Ms Grant, excuse me for being blunt, but you don't seem surprised or even impressed by any of this. Which makes me think that someone here at CATCO must be the anonymous source. And I don't understand, if you had all of this information, why would you turn it over to the government? Why wouldn't you run the story?"

Cat looks up at him, knowing his father, she's not really surprised that he would challenge her, just surprised that he would do it his first week on the job.

"Mr Farrow, are you not aware that Maxwell Lord is a prominent citizen of National City? Now before CATCO could publish a story like that, we would need concrete evidence of wrong-doing... irrefutable evidence," she adds as a challenge. "You and I both know that any decent team of corporate attorneys could whittle that evidence down to nothing and then turn around and sue me for libel," she snaps at him.

"This is why you sent us to Lord Technology today?" Farrow asks. "Does he know that you're the source of the investigation?"

"CATCO was not the source of the investigation and you will refrain from ever saying that outside of this office," Cat says flying out of her chair, "Is that clear!" She asks angrily.

"Yes, crystal clear," he says taken aback by her response.

Calming herself down, Cat turns around slowly.

"Now Mr Farrow, if you value your position here and decide that you're ready to stop trading on your father's name, then you can take a shot at Maxwell Lord. But I can only protect you if you agree to just stay under the radar and follow these rules. Do not save anything on the main frame. Keep everything on a thumb drive until IT sets you up with a private zip drive on a protected server," Cat explains carefully.

"What exactly do you think Maxwell Lord is capable of?" Farrow asks concerned.

"I know what he's capable of, it's the public who doesn't," Cat remarks.

"If he's so dangerous, why do you have someone like Kara Danvers on this and not a more seasoned reporter?" Farrow asks.

"Mr Farrow, the only reason that you're getting a shot at Lord is because I know that you will do it either way. So I'm allowing you to work on it, but only if you follow the rules. You received the Investigative Story guidelines, now you'll receive the Special Assignment guidelines, they are slightly more involved and are not to be shared with anyone. You'll adhere to them or you'll be completely locked out of the system, clear?" She asks.

"Clear," he replies.

"Mr Farrow, not a word of this to your father. He is a shark, if you tell him there's blood in the water, he'll find it before you do," Cat cautions.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After carefully wrapping up her research and packing up her computer, Kara is finally ready to leave and go meet Alex at Noonan's. Locking up her office, she turns around to see Cat walking to her elevator.

Cat looks up at her and presses the button for her elevator, the doors open and she enters.

Kara approaches and Cat reaches out to hold the door, gesturing for her to enter the elevator, so Kara smiles, then enters and presses the button for the lobby.

"It's pizza and game night, Carter would love to see you," Cat offers softly.

"Oh, right. It's Friday night," Kara remarks to give herself time to think.

"It's not only Carter who would like to see you," Cat adds, still looking ahead.

"Cat, we have a lot to figure out, maybe we should wait until tomorrow night," Kara replies.

"We do have some things to talk about," Cat agrees. "Why don't we start talking tonight... Come home with me and I'll have the driver stop at your place on the way."

"I'm meeting Alex ... Uh, she is picking me up," she explains.

"Kara, is Alex driving you to work and picking you up every day?" Cat asks confused.

"Uh, well, just this week. She didn't want me to walk to work until I get the stitches out. 

"I should have remembered that you don't own a car," Cat replies. 

I've never really needed one before," she points out. "I would like to come over tonight, I'm sure that Alex can drop me off," Kara adds.

"That's not necessary, I can send a car," Cat offers as the elevator dings their arrival.

"I'll check with Alex and let you know," Kara says excitedly, then quickly leaning in to give her a light hug before the doors open.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lena is watching the patrol car from a distance. It only took one phone call to get Maggie's patrol information and a second phone call told her that the officer was about to take a dinner break at Noonan's.

Lena pulls up and watches Maggie and her partner head into Noonan's. As they head up to the counter to order, Maggie glances over at a table where a young blonde woman is sitting. She then turns to her partner and hands him some money, then walks over to the table. Curiously, Lena waits until Maggie is looking away before she enters and quickly takes a seat just inside the door. The young woman looks familiar, but Lena isn't sure who she is.

"Hey Kara," Maggie says approaching the table.

"Hi Officer Sawyer," Kara says smiling at her shyly.

"So can I ask why you canceled dinner?" Maggie asks sitting down across from her.

"It just didn't feel right to have dinner with you, when you're wanting to be more than just friends," Kara replies nervously. "I am in a relationship with someone amazing and I need to focus on that," she adds.

"Ah, I came on too strong," Maggie says somewhat apologetically. "I just thought that maybe you two weren't going to work things out. I would actually like to be friends, I don't really know anyone here but other cops," she explains.

"Kara, sorry that I'm late," Alex says approaching them.

"Oh hey Alex, right?" Maggie says standing up to greet her and noting that today she's in a blazer that just barely conceals her shoulder holster.

But before Maggie can ask Alex any questions Brett appears with their dinner.

He greets them awkwardly and he sits down at the next table, unloading the tray without looking at any of them.

"Uh, we should get going," Alex says glancing around the room before she pauses to look at the blonde watching them. Kara follows her line of sight and gasps when she realizes that it's Lena Luthor.

Maggie hears Kara's reaction and quickly follows her line of sight. "Oh no," she exclaims, before cursing under her breath.

"What?" Miller asks looking around before glimpsing the blonde staring at them. "Whoa, is that your ex?" He blurts out.

"This isn't happening," Maggie says looking down and shaking her head.

"We should go," Kara remarks standing up to leave.

"I'll walk you to the door," Maggie offers, deciding to approach Lena head on.

"That's not necessary, I've got it," Alex says placing a hand on Kara's back and guiding her away.

Maggie watches them go and takes a bite of her sandwich before swearing again. "I'll be right back," she says to Brett.

"She's pretty. A little young for you, don't you think?" Lena replies as Maggie approaches.

"That was official police business," Maggie replies defensively.

"Sure it was," Lena replies sarcastically.

"It's also none of your business. What are you doing here Lena?" Maggie asks angrily.

"I'm in National City on business," Lena say smoothly. "It's not a crime to eat in a public restaurant, is it Officer?"

"You promised to leave me alone, if I left Metropolis," Maggie retorts.

"No, my brother made that deal with you. He failed to tell you that I wasn't a party to his little agreement with you," Lena says moving in closer to her. "I've missed you," she adds.

"Lena, don't do this. We are over. Please, just leave me alone," Maggie says backing away from her.

"You still think that I'm a monster, that I could have prevented that accident. Maggie, you saw the investigation, it wasn't Luthor Corps fault, we were absolved from liability and we've been taking care of the injured and their families," Lena protests her innocence again.

"Lena, I know you and what you're capable of and I'm not going through this again with you," Maggie says angrily before storming off.

"You okay partner?" Miller asks as she sits back down at the table.

"Definitely not," Maggie replies shaking her head and staring down at her sandwich.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lena heads back out to her car laughing to herself as she looks up to see the familiar CATCO Logo on the skyscraper above her. She should have known as soon as she saw Max Lord's reaction to the girl. It is Kara Danvers ... Cat Grant's girlfriend.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What the hell is Lena Luthor doing in National City and why is she at Noonan's watching you, Kara?" Alex asks as soon as they get into her car.

"Alex, if she was watching me, it's because she saw me with the news team today at Lord Technology. But I don't think it's me that she was watching," Kara replies as they drive past to see Maggie and Lena talking angrily.

"Whoa," Alex remarks. "Wait, you were out with a news team today?" She blurts out the question, then rapidly asks. "Why were you at Lord Technology with a news team? Did you know Lena Luthor was going to be there? Why didn't you report that to the DEO?"

Kara shakes her head. "Why would the DEO care if Lena Luthor is in National City?" She asks.

"We wouldn't normally, but if she's meeting with Maxwell Lord, then we are definitely interested," Alex explains.

Kara fills Alex in on the rest of her day and she agrees to let Kara borrow her car for the weekend. While Kara changes, Alex calls to inform Lucy that Lena Luthor is in town.

"So how are things with you and Cat?" Alex asks.

"We still need to talk and hopefully we can do that tonight," Kara remarks.

"Why not wait until dinner tomorrow?" Alex asks.

"I kind of think that it's better if we talk at her place, she's more comfortable there," Kara explains. "Hey, am I dropping you off?"

"No, Lucy's on her way. I'll walk you out," Alex says following her out and handing her the car keys. "Don't get it towed again," she teases.

"That was one time," Kara groans. Then her phone buzzes. "Besides, Cat just sent me a guest code for the parking garage, so it should be fine over there," she adds smugly as she locks her door.


	6. Chapter 6

Before Cat can greet Kara, Carter rushes past her to the door.

"Kara," Carter calls out excitedly. "Mom just told me that you were coming," he says rushing to give her a hug.

"Hey," Kara says returning the hug and smiling brightly as she realizes how much she missed him.

Cat stands to the side observing them as Carter begins talking a mile a minute, telling Kara all about Chelsea and how she agreed to go to the science fair with him. He was only half this excited when he told her about it, Cat thinks.

Kara slips one arm around Carter as they walk by and somehow still manages to lean over and give Cat a light hug hello. Cat smiles at the contact, she's missed it and she loves how easily Kara does it, like she's done it a hundred times before.

"You two catch up, I'll let you know when the pizza arrives," Cat says smiling as Carter leads Kara into his room so he can show her the science project that he's working on for this year. It's a robotic arm that builds other robotic arms.

Cat pours herself a glass of wine before heading out to the balcony to wait for the pizza.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A short while later Kara appears with the bottle of wine and tops off Cat's glass.

"Join me, you know where the glasses are," Cat says casually to her.

Kara returns a few minutes later with a glass of wine and sits down opposite Cat.

Cat gives her a questioning glance and Kara begins.

"I told Carter that I needed to talk to you alone for few minutes," she explains setting the wine glass down. "Then he asked if I was going to break up with you," Kara remarks softly.

Cat holds her gaze silently wondering that herself.

"I told him that I wasn't," Kara replies moving forward until their knees almost touch. "But I do need to say something. And I know that you don't want to hear me apologize, but I was wrong to push you away and I'm sorry, because I miss you and I miss Carter. I miss this," she adds nervously pushing her glasses up.

Cat nods silently accepting the apology, understanding the need for it, but not sure how to convince her why it's not necessary.

"Carter doesn't understand any of this. He thinks that something happened between us, which I let him think since it was easier. But he's ready to just take you back because he misses you and he loves you," Cat remarks, swirling the wine around in the glass. "I guess we have that in common," she adds softly.

"Cat, I'm trying. Really trying, but I just, I think about everything that we've been through and I get so scared because what if something happens now," Kara replies. "I can't swoop in and save you or Carter," she admits.

"Kara, even with your super powers, there were no guarantees that you would always be able to swoop in to save me," Cat points out, moving to the edge of her seat and placing a hand on Kara's knee. "Life doesn't work that way, unfortunately."

"What if an alien attacks you or Carter to get to me?" Kara asks.

"Kara, the only alien that did that was after me because of Supergirl," Cat counters softly.

"They weren't after Supergirl, they were after Kara Zor-El and I am still her, even if I don't have powers," Kara reminds her.

"I realize that, but the fact remains that none of those aliens were bothering you or your loved ones until after you came out as Supergirl," Cat counters again. "It would seem to reason that you would now be able to return to the safety and relative obscurity of being Kara Danvers."

Kara sighs, that is true and she knows it. The difference is that she feels more exposed now, having been Supergirl.

"Now, as for me, I didn't get where I am today by playing nice. I have my own enemies to be concerned about. All this fame and notoriety comes with a price and part of that is having people look at us and assume that you are only with me because of my money and status," Cat points out sadly.

"I don't care what people say as long as you know the truth," Kara reminds her.

Cat smiles at her. "Darling, from this point forward it doesn't matter if you're Supergirl or I'm the Queen of all Media, now that we are together, we are Cat and Kara and that is all we have to be for this to work," Cat says placing a hand under chin and pulling her towards her for a light kiss.

The doorbell rings they both stand up and watch as Carter runs for the door. Kara quickly rushes over to join him at the door and Cat follows with a smile on her face. Even without powers, Cat realizes that Kara's instinct is to protect her son.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After a few heated rounds of Settlers of Catan, Cat reminds Carter that his father is picking him up early the next morning for a golf tournament and he really needs to get to bed. After making Kara promise to come over on Sunday so he can properly demonstrate his robotic arm, he reluctantly tells them both goodnight.

Kara smiles brightly. "Thank you," she says looking over at Cat.

"You're welcome, but what are you thanking me for?" Cat asks returning the smile.

"Inviting me tonight," Kara says holding Cat's gaze. "You always know what I need," she adds scooting closer to her.

"It's more than that Kara, we all needed it. We love you and we want you around, don't forget it again," she tries to say firmly but her voice breaks a little.

"I won't," Kara promises, pulling her close and wrapping her arms around her.

"Kara, before all of this happened we were talking about you moving in here. You weren't ready because Carter didn't know. I'd like us to revisit that conversation, once we work through this," Cat says nuzzling her neck.

"How can you do that?" Kara asks, her voice breaking. "How can you act like nothing happened?"

"Because in spite of everything that's happened you are still here Kara," Cat says pulling away from her to look into her eyes. "Yes, you've lost a part of you, an integral part and I understand that is difficult to adjust to, but you are still here and that means something," she reminds her.

"You're right, it means that I can still do this," Kara says leaning in to kiss her.

"Mmm," Cat says reaching up to pull her closer and deepen the kiss.

Kara pulls away reluctantly breaking the kiss.

"It's getting late...I should head out," Kara says remembering that she is driving and not flying home tonight.

"You could stay," Cat suggests.

"I have so much to do tomorrow," Kara hesitates, she really wants to stay, but she isn't sure if she should.

"Carter's father will be here early tomorrow, so you can get an early start," Cat reminds her.

"I don't need that early of a start," Kara replies with a sly smile. "And I would like to stay, if you're sure."

"I'm sure," Cat says taking her hand and leading her to the bedroom.

Kara looks around a moment and is pleased that it looks the same.

"Everything's still here," Cat says over her shoulder as she heads into her bathroom to get ready for bed.

Kara pulls out her phone and sets it up on the charger, then heads over to the closet and quickly changes into silk shorts and a camisole, Cat's version of shorts and a tank top. She has to admit it feels really nice on her skin, she's forgotten how soft everything thing is at Cat's, as she heads out and sits down on the bed. 

Cat joins her a few minutes later slipping into the bed and snuggling up to Kara's back. Her hands settle under Kara's top and she lightly traces the dressing on her side. "Does it still hurt to move?" Cat asks softly.

"A little, but it's mostly healed," Kara says rolling over onto her back.

Cat pulls Kara's top up and tugs at the tape to remove the dressing. The wound is mostly healed, but there is still some bruising on Kara's skin around the cut. "You were so brave to confront that man," Cat says breathlessly.

"I'm out of practice, Alex wants me to start training again, she thinks it will help," Kara replies tracing a finger along Cat's jaw line, before pulling her in and kissing her.

"Hmm," Cat says pulling back. "What exactly will training you to fight help?" She asks worriedly.

"She's worried about me getting hurt, what with my heroic tendencies and all," Kara says moving in to kiss Cat's neck and distract her from the conversation.

Cat gasps as Kara moves on top of her. As much as she wants to discuss this further with Kara, she can't really focus on it right now. "We are going to discuss this further, Kara," she says breathlessly.

"Mmm-K," Kara mumbles into Cat's hair as she continues to trail kisses down her neck.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Alex, I can barely hear you," Kara says the next morning as she is driving back to her place.

"Kara, stay away from the waterfront area, we have a situation down here," Alex shouts into the phone.

"I can see that," Kara replies pulling over to the curb to focus on the call.

"No, Kara. Stay back. We've got this...look, I have to go, but don't worry about this, J'onn's on his way," Alex says before ending the call.

Kara sits a moment. It feels really weird to be sitting here in a car while Alex is fighting something down there. Kara is putting the car in gear when she hears the fight and realizes that it's close by. Curiously, she parks again. Unable to stop herself, she gets out of the car and walks to the edge of the crowd to see what's going on. 

She is watching anxiously as the Khund corners the two agents against the shipping crates, when J'onn J'onzz swoops in and immediately lands a punch that sends the alien flying past the crowd and into another crate. The two agents slip away to safety and the Martian zips over to pick the Khund up and continue the fight as the crowd shrinks back out of their way. Kara watches mesmerized, her hands clenching and unclenching at her sides.

"Fascinating to watch the aliens going at it, isn't it Ms Danvers?" Max quips from behind her.

"Mr Lord," Kara says looking down nervously and wrapping her arms protectively around herself.

"Well, I didn't believe it, but it is true. You really did lose your powers," he asks looking at her standing there in jeans and blouse on the edge of the crowd.

"I'm not discussing this with you," Kara says moving away from him.

"Even if I could help you get them back?" He asks following her.

Kara stops walking and turns back to him. "You don't know what you're talking about," she replies. Taking a few steps closer she adds, "And my sister knows more about my physiology than anyone on the planet, if my powers can be restored, she'll figure it out."

"You seem almost convinced of that," Max says, knowing that he's pushing a button.

"I am completely convinced of it," Kara says emphatically.

"Yet, you haven't ended this conversation," he points out.

"I'm ending it now," she says walking away.

The Khund is finally taken into custody by the Martian and the onlookers cheer as he flies off. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alex takes a final look around from her vantage point and spots Kara walking away.

"Couldn't stay away?" She asks when Kara answers the phone.

"I should have. I ran into Max," Kara replies angrily.

"Kara what did he say to you?" Alex blurts out.

"He knows that I've lost my powers," Kara says angrily. "And he offered to help me get them back."

"What? That's impossible, he doesn't even know what happened. He couldn't possibly know how... Kara listen to me, if I could restore them, I would have. I'm not holding out on you," Alex says clearly. "You believe me, don't you?" She asks.

"Of course I believe you," Kara replies taking a deep breath. "Look, you were right, I shouldn't have come down here."

"Why were you ... oh, you stayed at Cat's last night?" Alex asks softly.

"Yeah, Lucy was right. I just needed to let her in," Kara admits.

"She'll be happy to hear that. And Kara, don't let this get in the way. And don't let anything Max said get to you. He'd love nothing more than to get more of your DNA to test, just remember what he did with Bizarro." Alex reminds her.

"I know. I don't trust him and would never go to him, even if he could restore my powers," Kara replies.

"He can't though. He just said that to get you to not trust me," Alex points out.

"I trust you Alex. I trust you with everything," Kara confesses.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the slow updates. It's busy season here and as soon as I finish this story, I will wait to start another one until it slows down again. Thanks to everyone who's stayed with this series, ya'll rock!
> 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After Kara left, Cat sat down at her desk to review the first expose, because she can't stop thinking about her conversation with Farrow. The CATCO general counsel signed off on the story, but it was actually Cat who made the decision not to run it. Something didn't feel right, which is why she let Lucy Lane convince her to hand over the data file to be sent anonymously to the GAO.

Feeling a bit anxious about everything, Cat grabs the remote to turn on the news for a distraction. She pauses to watch the live news coverage of the Khund being taken into custody, she's about to switch the channel, when they cut in live on the scene to interview Maxwell Lord.

_"These aliens are out of control, this one has caused thousands of dollars of damage to my shipping yard," he complains. "And why is there a Martian fighting him instead of Supergirl. No one has seen Supergirl in weeks, where is she?" He questions._

The news team quickly cuts to a photo of Supergirl with the words, _Supergirl MIA?!_ superimposed across it.

Cat groans and snatches up her phone, "Remove that horrible graphic now!" she roars into the phone. "How many times do I have to tell you, do not use a question mark and an exclamation point, pick one or the other," she snaps.

"I was fixing it," Tom says defensively. "The weekend morning team is new and young," he explains.

"Well, Supergirl isn't the story here," Cat says angrily. "We need to find out who the other alien was who assisted in the capture," she points out.

"Okay, good point," Tom says nervously before asking. "Uh, Ms Grant, do you have any information about Supergirl?"

"No, just get someone looking into this new alien hero," she snaps. "And don't run anything until I've seen it!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"That son of ..." Alex stalks across the control room away from the news report overhead.

"Hey, we knew that story was bound to break," Lucy reminds her. "We've been lucky that it took this long."

"I guess Cat really is the Queen of all Media, considering that she's been able to keep a lid on it," Alex admits.

"The suit is here, we could have J'onn go out as her," Lucy suggests.

"No, what if she doesn't get her powers back. Then we'll have to explain that we faked her appearance," Alex points out.

"Should she issue a statement of some kind?" Lucy counters as her phone rings.

"Lane," she says answering it. "Kara slow down, what happened?"

"Is that Kara?" Alex says rushing towards the phone and taking it, as Lucy puts it on speaker. "What happened?"

"Alex, uh, I sort of broke your car door. I slammed it too hard, like super too hard," Kara stammers.

"Super, super?" Alex asks.

"Yes, but now it's gone. The super, I mean, not the car," she explains.

"Kara I don't understand," Alex replies confused.

"Kara, are you saying that your powers came and went?" Lucy asks.

"Yes!" Kara says excitedly. "Alex, I'll get the door fixed. I just didn't realize that my powers were back," she apologizes.

"I don't care about the car, what else happened? Did your hearing come back? Did you fly?" Alex questions rapidly.

"I don't think so, it happened so fast, then it was gone," Kara answers. "Oh and my side is healed. No scar or anything," she adds.

"But right now, do you have any powers?" Lucy asks.

"None, right now. But it's a good sign right? I mean if they came back a little, they'll come back, right?" Kara asks hopefully.

"I don't know Kara, but I would think so," Lucy replies watching Alex carefully.

"Can you get out here so I can run some tests?" Alex asks her sister.

"I can come out for an hour, maybe two," Kara answers, "but you should send someone to get me, I don't think I can drive your car there."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"No, Supergirl?" Lena asks standing in front of the tv in Max's office. "Now is the time to test Raf," she adds.

"He's not ready," Max replies. "And there's still the martian to contend with," he points out.

"It's been 48 hours since the injections," Lena counters. "And I'm not worried about the martian, they're not as loyal and reliable as the Kryptonians."

"It is too soon," Max counters. "The stem cells are still replicating in his body," he explains. "And this martian has been around National City for months."

"Fine, but where did he come from? How long has he been around?" She questions.

"I'm not sure. I've only seen him a few times. He rescued Supergirl a few months ago after she was knocked unconscious by The Detonator and fell into the ocean," Max answers.

"Hmm, so he's working with the DEO? How many aliens do you think they have working there?" Lena asks.

"I'm not sure. I hadn't really considered it," Max says suddenly realizing that the DEO could actually be a covert organization of aliens working for the government.

"General Lane would know, we should contact him," Lena remarks.

"That's not a good idea and besides, his daughter is acting director of the DEO, if it were full of aliens, he wouldn't work so closely with it," Max reminds her.

"Well, the fact remains that with Supergirl out of National City, this is the ideal time. Max, can't we just see what he's able to do so far?" Lena asks.

"It's not a good idea," Max answers. "Besides, once he's ready, not even Supergirl will be able to stop him," he adds smugly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Alex, I need to get home soon, it's been two hours," Kara reminds her, sitting up in the sunbed.

"Okay, okay. I just thought a little more UV might give you an extra boost," Alex says helping her out of the bed.

"I feel great, just not 'super' great," Kara jokes. Then falls to her knees holding her head.

"Kara!" Alex says kneeling down. "What is it? Your head? Your hearing?"

"H-hearing," Kara exclaims trying to focus and adjust to the sudden increase of noises.

"Super hearing?" Alex asks and Kara nods yes. "What about your vision?" She asks worriedly, Kara lasered through the wall earlier.

"Same, normal. Not super," Kara replies unevenly.

"I don't feel good about you going home like this," Alex exclaims concerned.

"I'll be fine. I won't leave the apartment," Kara promises. "And I'll keep the glasses on," she adds.

"Cat's going to know that something is going on," Alex points out.

"It came on suddenly, maybe it will go just as suddenly," Kara remarks. 

"Kara, Lucy and I will take you home, but you have to promise to call if you need us," Alex replies helping her to her feet.

"Do you think you guys could come over and help me get everything ready?" Kara asks.

"I'm sure that we can work that out," Alex replies.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cat is standing in her wardrobe staring at her clothes trying to decide what to wear when her phone rings. It's been ringing all day with questions from other media outlets wondering why she put out a statement applauding the government for being able to contain alien threats with a new alien hero.

"Cat Grant," she answers without looking at the phone.

"Cat, it's Lucy Lane," Lucy says quickly.

"Look, it was the most obvious way to deflect the Supergirl story," Cat says, assuming that Lane is upset with her about throwing media speculation at the Martian hero today.

"No, it's fine. It was expected, you took the focus off Supergirl," Lucy remarks.

"How is she? Has she seen the news today?" Cat asks concerned.

"No, she hasn't and that's kind of why I was calling," she adds anxiously. "She's been with Alex all day..."

"What's happened? Is she alright?" Cat asks immediately alarmed.

"She's fine," Lucy answers. "But, something came up and they've been running tests." she adds.

"Explain," Cat demands.

"Cat, I'm not at liberty to discuss this in any detail and Kara, well, she needs a relaxing evening tonight," Lucy stammers a bit before continuing. "She is putting a lot of pressure on herself. She really wants tonight to be perfect. It's really important to her. Alex is over there now helping her, so you should cut her some slack," Lucy says trying to explain.

"Hmm," Cat considers what Lucy isn't saying. "What you're not saying is that something happened today. Something that may or may not mean that her powers are returning. You're not going to tell me anything, because it's classified. If it's positive, then she will probably tell me herself. If she is closed off tonight, you want me to give her space and not freak out because it's not her reaction to me, it's her reaction to whatever happened... Does that cover it?" She quips.

"Pretty much," Lucy exclaims. "So can you help her chill out tonight and relax?"

"Contrary to popular opinion, I do know how to relax. In fact, I'm wearing jeans and a t-shirt to have dinner at my millennial girlfriend's apartment tonight," Cat replies wryly.

"Uh, you do realize that she's not really a millennial, she's older than you are," Lucy points out.

"So she likes to remind me," Cat replies wryly. "I'm not buying it, alien genetics can't be that superior to our own and if they are we should figure out how to bottle it and sell it," she jokes.

"I'm sure if it could be done, Max Lord would already be doing it," Lucy counters.

Cat sits a few minutes after ending the call with Lucy. Tonight has her feeling a bit anxious. She's only been to Kara's a few times since they've been dating. Once for game night that went surprisingly well, but the other times it was not planned. Now this invitation from Kara to come over for dinner seemed different. Cat thinks that there was something behind it, like it's a test to see if Cat really wants to be with Kara if she is just Kara Danvers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lena pauses, considering the situation and watching him carefully. She chose him for this project because he seemed eager to do more than sit around on disability like the others.

"Raf, I promised that your family would always be taken care of; that hasn't changed," Lena replies confidently. "And this project is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Your family will be so proud of you."

"Ms Luthor, I realize that. And I'm doing this for them, but I haven't seen or spoken to my family in weeks," he protests lightly.

"I could arrange for you to see them tomorrow, perhaps a video call," she suggests.

"Not good enough. I want to see them in person before the next round of injections," he says attempting to negotiate with her.

"Raf, Mr Lord has already invested in this project and he won't agree with you leaving National City," Lena explains pacing around the room as she considers his request. "But I will contact my brother and see if he will agree to transport them here to see you on Sunday," she adds with a slight smile.

Raf nods accepting the small concession from her. Worried that this project is going to change him into something his family won't recognize, he wants to see his parents one more time. Hoping to explain to them why he made this choice so they can understand that he did it for them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cat stands at Kara's door a moment to gather her thoughts before knocking. Just as she raises her hand to knock the door opens and Alex is standing there.

"You're early," Alex says a little surprised to see her.

"It's nice to see you too, Alex," Cat says motioning for her to move out of the way.

"I was just leaving, uh, Kara's not quite ready," Alex says stepping back to open the door wider so Cat can enter. "She's actually in the shower," she adds.

"Good, then we can discuss what's going on," Cat says handing her the box of crullers and walking past her to put the wine on the counter.

"You brought crullers for dessert? Did Lucy call you?" Alex questions.

"Yes, she did and I'm early because I know that Kara is anxious about me coming over. So how is dinner coming?" Cat asks looking around the suspiciously clean kitchen.

"Everything is done. Dinner is in the oven on warm. Salad is in the fridge. All that's left is to pull it out and plate it," Alex remarks.

"Excellent. Then head out. I've got this now," Cat says shooing her away towards the door.

"I should tell her that you are here," Alex says halting at the door.

"I am perfectly capable of letting her know that I am here," Cat snaps. "Go Agent Danvers, I have this under control," she repeats.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cat shuts and locks the door behind Alex before heading over to Kara's bookshelf to the wireless stereo thing that Carter insisted on getting Kara for Christmas. She picks up the remote and clicks it until soft jazzy music begins to play. She smiles pleased, then looks at the display on the receiver 'Cat's Mix'.

"Alex?," Kara calls out from the bedroom when the music begins.

"Kara. It's me," Cat replies.

"C-Cat...you're here already," Kara stammers, opening the bedroom door in only a towel.

"Yes, I hope that you don't mind. I wanted to see you," Cat says openly admiring her in the towel.

"I should get dressed," Kara says nervously looking down at the floor.

"Need help with that?" Cat teases as she reaches out to catch the door before Kara can close it.

Cat leans into her and kisses her lightly. Kara whimpers at the contact and Cat moves in closer.

"Cat, I-I..." Kara begins to protest, but Cat pushes her way into the room and Kara falls back on the bed.

"Mmm," Cat says kissing her as she climbs up onto the bed tugging playfully at the towel.

Grabbing the towel and holding it close, Kara waits for her to stop kissing her and open her eyes. "Cat, I'm sorry about last night, I was tired," Kara begins to stammer an apology for last night.

"As much as I enjoyed last night and I did," Cat confirms with a soft kiss to Kara's cheek. "I think that right now we are both nervous and keyed up about this evening. Unless, you... Are you? Tired? Now?" She questions, teasing a little.

"Definitely. Not. Tired." Kara says letting go of the towel and pulling Cat in closer and kissing her soundly.

Cat pulls away the towel with a sly smile, "Excellent," she exclaims as she begins kissing her way down Kara's body.

Kara' whole body trembles in anticipation, it's been several weeks since they've been intimate and Cat's tongue on her skin is trailing fire down to her center.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry, I didn't realize that I hadn't posted Ch8 and I posted ch 9 out of order. Good news though, you get two chapters today... maybe even 3!
> 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Can you see him?" Lucy asks Alex. She's up in the helicopter, Alex is on the ground with the other team. They are searching the area around Lord's lab for a man who attempted to carjack someone but instead torched the car and seriously injured the owner.

"Nothing yet," Alex says from the passenger side of the SUV.

"We've got something, there's smoke coming from an out building on 8th and Granite," Lucy relays to Vasquez.

"Turn right," Vasquez directs the driver from the backseat as she watches the map on the screen in front of her.

"Left here," she adds a minute later.

"What the hell is that?" Alex blurts out as the driver screeches to a halt to avoid hitting the person standing in the street.

"Director Lane, we have a visual," Vasquez relays. "Not sure what we've got though," she adds quickly.

"We're circling back around, use caution," Lucy advises.

"No kidding," Alex mumbles. "Vasquez, cover me. I'm going to exit the vehicle and try to talk to him."

"Agent Danvers, you will wait until I have a visual," Lucy barks into radio.

"I'm the lead agent on the ground... it's my call," Alex replies. "Vasquez, you ready?" She asks over her shoulder.

Susannah picks up the modified taser and unholsters her weapon, "Let's do this," she agrees and they step out of the vehicle at the same time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hmm," Cat says taking a bite of the dinner. "This is good," she adds smiling at Kara and looking around.

"It's better when it hasn't set so long," Kara replies, extending her hand to take Cat's and intertwine their fingers.

"Thank you for inviting me over, why haven't we done this before?" Cat asks.

"I didn't think you would be comfortable here and your place is so much nicer than mine," Kara answers.

"Kara, this plan is open and airy just like the beach house," Cat points out.

"Yeah, but no beach," Kara comments.

"And I love having a chance to see your paintings," Cat replies ignoring her comment.

"You do?" Kara asks.

"Yes, you're quite talented, darling. After dinner I want to see them properly," Cat says gazing at her softly.

"Yeah, of course, I'd like that," Kara admits relieved.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Easy there, we just want to help you," Alex says as she moves to stand near the front of the SUV. The man turns and Alex realizes that it is just a young guy, but he is huge, like a bodybuilder, his face heavily scarred.

He pulls off the hoodie and holds out his hands. "Please don't shoot me. I just had to get away from them," he explains.

"Tell us what's happening? Why did you hurt that man in the car?" Alex blurts out, relaxing a little but still not sure about the situation.

"I didn't mean to hurt him, just to steal his car. I-I escaped from a lab... I thought it was a rehab hospital, but it wasn't and they've done things to me, injected me with stuff. I-I'm not normal, things that I touch burst into flames," he explains nervously.

"Okay," Alex says and motions for Vasquez to come around beside her. "What's your name?"

"Thomas," he says still unsure of who these people are. "Are you here to take me back?" Thomas asks anxiously and flames leap out of his fingers, he shakes his hands to blow them out.

"Thomas, I'm Agent Danvers and this is Agent Vasquez. We work for the government, we've been investigating the labs in this area, will you come with us and let us help you?" Alex asks calmly.

"How do I know that you don't work for the people who did this to me?" He asks anxiously.

"You don't, but we will protect you from them, they are looking for you too and so are the police. Now can you control this at all?" Alex asks.

"Thomas, we need to transport you to our facility so that we can figure out what's been done to you. Will you trust us to do that?" Vasquez asks stepping closer to him to see if he flashes flames again.

"I'm not sure. But I will try, it seems to happen when I'm angry or emotional," he admits.

"Have you ever tried meditation?" Alex questions stepping up to the other side of him.

"Can we slip these gloves on you?" Vasquez asks holding up what looks like oven mitts. "They are fire retardant, just to be safe," she adds carefully.

Thomas nods. He wants to trust them, so far they seem like they want to help him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kara can't stop stealing glances at Cat. Everything is going perfectly and she can't believe how comfortable Cat is at her place. They cleared the table together and loaded the dishwasher. She seems to be genuinely enjoying the evening.

"Crullers and coffee?" Cat asks looking over at the counter, where Kara has a fancy new state of the art coffee machine.

"Not yet," Kara says pulling her close and kissing her.

Cat wraps her arms around Kara's neck and deepens the kiss, suddenly Cat has a familiar feeling of floating.

"Kara," Cat says breathlessly, placing her feet on top of Kara's to support herself better.

"Oh," Kara exclaims before lowering them back to the floor. "So my powers are sort of coming and going today," she admits shyly. "I, uh, I broke Alex's car door and I accidently lasered a hole in the lab at the DEO."

"Ah, well now I am quite happy that we're at your place," Cat teases her and smiles.

"Alex thinks it's a good sign that they're coming back, but I'm worried that they are dissappaiting and this is the end of them," Kara replies stoically.

"Time will tell," Cat remarks reaching up to cup her face. "Although, I did notice that your side is healed with no scar," she adds slipping her hand under Kara's shirt tracing where the wound was.

"What if they don't come back?" Kara asks grabbing her hand and holding it to her chest. "What if I'm just plain ol' Kara Danvers from here on out?"

"Kara you know that I am not a scientist or biochemist or any sort of authority on alien physiology," Cat begins, "but I feel that it's a positive sign," she adds with a kiss.

"So if this isn't a positive sign and I wake up tomorrow with no powers at all and I'm just Kara..." Kara asks again.

"I fell for Kara Danvers long before I knew that she was Supergirl," Cat confesses. "Kara, you know me and I don't change easily, but I've changed for you. And it wasn't your superpowers that changed me, it was you," she adds with another kiss.

"That may be the sweetest thing you've ever said to me," Kara remarks with a bright smile. Then worry crosses her face, Cat have you been possessed? How can I be sure that you're really Cat Grant?" she asks half joking, half actually concerned.

"Kara, your apartment is almost more shabby than chic. Your neighborhood isn't safe and this couch is hideous, but at least you have the good sense to cover it up with pillows and a throw," Cat blurts out, before turning around and smiling at her.

"There she is," Kara teases with a bright smile. "I can't believe how long you held that in. Do you feel better, now?"

"I do." Cat says laughing softly. Then turning around she crosses the room and pauses near the kitchen to ask, "Kara, where did you get that coffee machine? It's the only thing in here that doesn't scream discount store," she points out.

"It was a gift," Kara replies. "It was sent to CATCO a few weeks ago and Emily called me to find out what to do with it. I told her to have James deliver it to Supergirl."

"You don't know who sent it?" Cat asks concerned.

"Well, the small plane that I saved last month was returning from a coffee buying trip to Brazil, so I just figured it was a thank you gift from them," Kara explains. "I got coffee with it," she adds.

"Well in that case, maybe we should try it out," Cat says taking Kara's hand and leading her back to the kitchen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kara sets out the paintings in a certain order, while Cat sips her latte watching her. Finally satisfied, Kara returns to the table and picks up her cup and takes a sip and hums happily into it.

"When did you first start painting?" Cat asks as she reaches for Kara's hand.

"When I first arrived here, I started drawing to get everything out of my head. Years in the Phantom Zone will do that to you," she adds softly before continuing. "Eliza saw my drawings and went out and bought me paints and canvas. I've been painting ever since, it helps me to relax," Kara explains watching Cat intertwine their fingers.

"I'd love to see your earlier works, did you keep any of them?" Cat asks.

"Eliza has them all in her attic, she kept them for me. They're mostly of Krypton and Argo City, places I didn't want to forget," Kara replies as Cat pulls her hand away and picks up her cup again.

"Hmm," Cat says into her cup. Then pulling it away, she asks, "I definitely want to see them, could we send for them?"

"If you want to see them, we should go visit. There are too many to have sent here," Kara says embarrassed by this fact.

"I see, well we could do that. I haven't been to Midvale in years," Cat exclaims.

"I'm surprised that you've been there at all," Kara remarks curiously.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You don't get to disobey a direct order in the field Alex," Lucy says spinning around on her as soon as they enter the office.

"Lucy, I was the lead agent on the ground. The protocol allows for me to overrule your call from the air," Alex reminds her.

"You should have waited for me," Lucy protests. "It was an unnecessary risk," she adds.

"What's the situation?" Hank asks entering the office, not noticing their tension at first.

"He says there are others like him," Alex says, explaining the situation to Hank.

"But we don't know that he was at Prometheus," Hank states, thinking it through.

"Come on Hank, we know that it's Prometheus," Alex replies.

"No Alex, we don't know that. We know that he was found in an industrial area where there are many labs, any of them could have this type of research underway," Hank retorts.

"Prometheus has The Detonator's body Hank and this guy has some of The Detonator's abilities, that's not a coincidence," Alex says pushing back. "We need to find out where he was being held and find the others. Maxwell Lord is testing on humans. He's trying to make metahumans!" She screams at him angrily.

"Just give me a few minutes, I want to interview him myself and see what I can find out," Hank says glancing over at Lucy Lane before leaving the room.

"Alex, Hank's just trying to make sure that we're going after the right guy," Lucy says hoping to calm her girlfriend down a bit.

"I know that, but this has Max Lord all over it. And this kid is from Metropolis, which means Lena Luthor is probably involved as well. This is really bad. I should probably call Kara and warn her," Alex says worriedly.

"Not tonight you don't," Lucy says placing a hand on her phone. "Alex, you are not calling her and ruining her night with Cat."

"Damn, you're right," Alex replies running a hand through her hair. "I'll wait to tell her in the morning," she adds.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I want to know exactly how this happened?" Max asks the security guard.

"Mr Lord, we couldn't stop him," the guard replies. "He burst into flames, two of my guys have serious burns," he adds.

"We're taking care of them, they'll be fine. Now we need to locate Thomas," Lord replies.

"We think that he was picked up by the FBI a few blocks from here," another security guard says entering the office and telling them about the attempted carjacking, then the government helicopter and SUV that appeared an hour later.

"It wasn't the FBI," Max says swearing softly to himself. "Okay, go check on the others and make sure no one else is planning to make a run for it. Let them know that Thomas hurt someone and is in police custody."

"I thought that you were testing them?" Lena asks angrily as she enters the room.

Max dismisses the guards then turns to her. "We are testing them. But Thomas hadn't shown any signs of being able to combust," Max explains. "We didn't know that he could do that yet."

"If you were testing them correctly, this wouldn't have happened," Lena retorts. "Now we need to go check the others," she adds storming out of the room.

"Lena, wait!" Max says following her out into the hall. "Look, I'm handling this. Right now they all believe that they are a danger to others. As long as they believe that they won't try to escape," he explains. "Now, if you go in there without protection, they'll doubt what we've told them," he points out.

She glares at him and turns to leave. She needs time to reconsider her options.


	9. Chapter 9

Lena is leaving her hotel the next morning after a restless night trying to decide how to approach this situation with Max. She wants to trust him, but she's worried about Raf meeting with his family today. What if he gets emotional and shoots flames out of his hands and hurts them? If they have him wear the protective gloves, his family might freak out about what's going on with him. She wishes she wouldn't have pushed to have them brought here.

"Lena!" Maggie calls out as soon as the statuesque blonde emerges from the hotel.

Lena stops in her tracks and slowly turns around to face her ex, who is in running gear and not her uniform.

"Hey, I figured that you would stay here at the Empire," Maggie says bit breathlessly as she catches up to her.

"Hmmm...Miss me?" Lena asks annoyed because she knows this ambush by her ex has nothing to do with their past relationship.

"Lena, why are you here in National City? Please tell me it has nothing to do with the carjacking that involved a man bursting into flames and running off," Maggie says watching her face closely.

"Maggie, I am in National City consulting with Lord Technology. I saw the carjacking on the morning news, but I don't know much about it," Lena replies flatly.

"Okay. Good," Maggie says carefully evaluating her responses.

"Is that really the only reason that you came to see me?" Lena asks. "Still trying to assuage your guilt?" She adds, reaching out to tuck a strand of hair behind Maggie's ear.

Maggie shrinks away from her touch, "Lena, don't. And it's not guilt. I have an obligation... I am a police officer. I'm responsible for public safety. If you were involved in this and I'm not saying that you were, I would have a responsibility to mention it to my superiors," Maggie explains.

"I'm surprised that you haven't already mentioned it to them," Lena counters. "Or do you not want people to know about your past? Am I your dirty little secret?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alex and Lucy are out for their own Sunday morning run when Lucy's phone rings so they stop. Annoyed at the interruption, Alex stretches and surveys the area. She spots the cop immediately, even in running clothes, Maggie Sawyer's body language screams law enforcement.

Maggie feels someone watching her and she glances around the edge of the park. She spots the two women immediately and realizes that it's Alex Danvers staring at her.

"Hey Agent Danvers," she says approaching her on the sidewalk.

"Officer Sawyer," Alex replies briskly. Then a bit friendlier she adds, "It's Alex and that's Lucy there on the phone with her father."

Smiling Maggie looks over at the brunette on the phone, "I take it you're not a fan of her father?" Maggie asks.

"The only thing I like about The General is his daughter," Alex jokes. "Do you live around here?" she questions curiously.

"Not exactly. I just like to run in this area, it's a lot nicer than where I live, you?" Maggie asks.

"Same, but Lucy lives over there across the park," Alex explains.

"Wait, that's Lucy Lane... General Lane's daughter?" Maggie questions suddenly realizing why the woman looks familiar.

"You know General Lane?" Alex asks.

"Not really, but I know who he is. After Superman was captured by Lionel Luthor, I sort of helped Lois Lane get into Luthor Corp after hours," Maggie admits.

Alex nods, this isn't the time or place to get into that story and they both know it. "We usually go for breakfast after this, you should join us," Alex says smiling at her.

"I wouldn't want to intrude," Maggie replies backing away.

"You're not. Besides Kara usually joins us, but she's otherwise occupied this morning," Alex retorts, before waving at Lucy and pointing to the cafe. Lucy nods and waves to Maggie.

"Is that normal?" Maggie asks watching the brunette on the phone.

"No. Something is up and she won't want to talk about it until after she's had time to process it," Alex explains. Then turning back to Maggie, "Let's talk about how you're getting along in National City," she suggests.

"I'm getting along fine. But that's not really what you're asking. You want to know why Lena Luthor is following me," Maggie points out.

"Just making sure that she's following you and not my sister," Alex counters.

"Why would Lena follow Kara?" Maggie asks curiously.

"Kara works for Cat Grant. Maggie, it wouldn't be the first time that someone has tried to use her to get to Ms Grant," Alex explains.

"You think that Lena Luthor is trying to get to Cat Grant," Maggie retorts.

"I'm saying that I don't know why Lena Luthor is in National City or why she was outside of CATCO plaza the other day. Now, given your history with her, perhaps you can explain it to me," Alex replies with a slight smile.

"Wow, you're good at this. Here I thought I was having brunch with a new friend," Maggie teases, then adds. "Lena says that she is only here to consult with Lord Technology."

"You don't sound like you believe her," Alex remarks.

"Well, Lena doesn't do anything simply. If she's here to meet with Lord, then they are working on something together," Maggie points out. "And I can't imagine that it would have anything to do with your sister or Cat Grant."

"I hope that you're right," Alex counters. "Uh, there was a strange carjacking last night... did you hear about it?" Alex asks carefully.

"Yes, but how did you hear about it?" Maggie asks just to see her response. She's sure that Alex is in law enforcement in some capacity, but she hasn't been able to figure out where she works. The only Alex Danvers she could find listed was a scientist for a non-existent government lab.

"Lucy works in Homeland Security, she got an alert last night," Alex explains.

"And how about you Danvers, where do you work?" Maggie asks.

"Uh, in a lab out in the desert," Alex replies easily.

"Sure you do," Maggie replies thinking back to the full tac gear Alex was wearing the first time they met.

"I work in the field sometimes. Hostile environments... so I have some special training and sometimes I work with Homeland Security," she explains trying to give enough detail to sound plausible but not improbable.

"So is that how you two met?" Maggie asks nodding to the brunette pacing outside the cafe on the phone.

"Yeah, we had a case together and met in the field," Alex admits reluctantly.

"And what's the story about your sister? I can't imagine that many of Cat Grant's assistants know Krav Maga or stop muggers in their spare time," Maggie points out.

Alex takes a sip of water, she should have realized that Maggie would take full advantage of this situation and try to get information about Kara, just as Alex tried to get information regarding Lena.

Before Alex can respond, Maggie looks up and smiles at Lucy who is approaching the table.

"Hey, I'm Lucy Lane," Lucy says extending her hand and introducing herself.

Maggie stands up, "Maggie Sawyer, and I-I know your sister, Lois," she adds conversationally.

"Wait, you're from Metropolis?" Lucy asks carefully, realizing that this is the hot cop Alex has been teasing Kara about.

"I am," Maggie replies.

"Maggie used to date Lena Luthor," Alex interjects.

"Wait, what?" Lucy blurts out, looking from one women to the other. "Lena Luthor dated a Metropolis police officer?"

"I met her when I was working undercover, she didn't know that I was a cop for several months," Maggie explains.

"Hmm, that sounds like an interesting story," Lucy remarks glancing up to see Cat and Kara entering the cafe.

Alex follows her eyes. "Oops, we're going to need more chairs," she says jumping up to cross the room to greet Kara and Cat.

"Why is she here?" Kara whispers into Alex's ear as she hugs her tightly.

"We didn't think you were coming and we just ran into her, literally," Alex replies pulling away to greet Cat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The brunch goes surprisingly well, although Cat is unusually quiet throughout. Lucy and Maggie discuss Metropolis, Alex interjects a few times and Kara glances nervously over to Cat one too many times.

Kara can't take it and finally blurts out that Maggie was one of the officers who responded to the mugging.

"Well, my partner and I responded to the call, but Kara had rescued the lady by the time we got there," Maggie explains.

"And then you rescued Kara," Lucy adds.

"Hey, I was getting the situation under control," Kara protests.

"If she had disarmed him first, she'd have been fine," Maggie points out.

"Well, thank you for getting there in time to help her," Cat interjects, resting a hand on Kara's knee under the table.

"How's the recovery going?" Maggie asks turning towards Kara..

"Mom gave her this amazing ointment and it's practically healed, hasn't it Kara," Alex promptly pulls the attention back to herself.

"Yes, the ointment...Mom's ointment, it is, ahhh super stuff," Kara replies and under the table Cat squeezes her knee, smirking slightly.

"Oh, is that the same stuff she gave you when you were injured by the, uh, in that accident?" Lucy asks Alex.

Alex nods slightly but doesn't comment.

Maggie glances back to see Cat and Kara turned away having a private conversation.

"I know about the DEO," Maggie says softly glancing from Alex and Lucy, "and I'm guessing that you are both agents there, right?" she asks.

Alex nods again but Lucy shifts uncomfortably in her chair, since she's a bit more than just an agent.

Maggie misunderstands the hesitation and looks back down the table nodding towards Cat and Kara, "They don't know?" She asks softly.

"It's a need to know basis," Lucy remarks, stealing a glance at Alex. They both know that it wouldn't make sense for either Cat and Kara to know about the DEO. "It's better for everyone if they think we're FBI," she adds.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Cat, I should have told you about Officer Sawyer, but I didn't know how," Kara stammers as soon as they enter her loft.

"I understand," Cat says crossing the room to stand in front of the windows.

"What?" Kara asks confused. "How can you understand? I don't even understand it," she adds going over to her.

Cat sighs. "Kara, did anything happen? When we were apart, did anything happen between you and her?" Cat asks gingerly.

"N-no, we met for coffee. Then I realized that she wanted to be more than friends and I told her that I was in a relationship," Kara explains.

"You told her that?" Cat asks relieved.

"Yes, we weren't broken up," Kara answers quickly, then turning away, she begins pacing the room. "Uh, Cat did you think that we were? Did you, um, did you see someone else while I was..." Kara blurts out the question, but can't finish it, instead she sinks down onto the couch.

"No, darling," Cat says sitting down beside her. "I could never," she admits.

Kara takes her into her arms. "I'm sorry, I was so selfish," she mumbles into Cat's hair.

"You have ruined me for anyone else Kara," Cat confesses. "No one has ever done for me, what you have. Or made me feel the things that you have. You make me want to be a better person," she explains.

"Cat, you don't have to change for me. I fell in love with you... snark and all," Kara counters with a small smile.

"Yes, but that's not really who I am. You know that, you know me better than anyone," Cat says pulling back to kiss her. "And I'd like to think that I know you almost as well, so promise me that you'll stop this personal flagellation. I may not trust Maggie Sawyer with you, but I do trust you with Maggie Sawyer."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You have to get away from them," the note reads.

The woman looks up into her son's eyes questioning him silently and nods.

"Everything has been so good for us. The house we live in has everything we need," she replies as if he hadn't just handed her a note telling her to leave it.

"Mama, it's so good to hear that they are taking care of you like they promised me. The rehab here is much different than what I had in Metropolis. I don't really understand what they have me doing now. The accident changed me in ways that I can't explain and I don't fully understand yet," he explains carefully, sure that this visit is being monitored. Then turning to look at his father in the wheelchair, he smiles sadly. Wondering how his mother could do it. How could she manage to get away from the Luthor's with her invalid husband.

"We're doing quite well, there's a van that I can use to take your father to his appointments," she remarks. "And he's doing rather well in his physical therapy. He's making great progress," she adds.

"Have you seen Daniella?" Raf asks.

"Yes, she comes by and visits with me when your father is in therapy," his mother replies softly.

"Have you told her where I am? I, uh, I didn't get a chance," he admits worriedly.

"Yes, yes, she knows everything... well, everything that I know," she answers carefully.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Kara is technically still an undercover agent with the DEO," Alex is still arguing with Lucy about their conversation with Maggie Sawyer at brunch.

"Yes, but telling Sawyer that would only bring about more questions. She doesn't need to know anything about Kara's involvement with the DEO," Lucy counters. "And I didn't exactly say they didn't know, just that it's best that everyone thinks that we're FBI, which is completely true," she points out.

"I should know better than to argue with an attorney," Alex retorts with a smile.

"Yet you still try," Lucy replies lightly.

"Sorry, everything about this has me on edge, she apologizes and pulls Lucy in for a light kiss. "Now do you want to go with me to see Carter's robotic arm this afternoon?" Alex asks.

"No, I'm meeting with the General. I can't believe he found out about last night that quickly, do you think we have a leak?" Lucy asks.

"It's more likely he has our office bugged. But then your Dad knows enough about the DEO to realize that we would have found that guy and tucked him away as fast as possible," Alex points out. "Sure that you don't need back up with your Dad?"

"Actually, Hank's meeting us. We are reviewing possible strategies with Homeland Security to figure out how to investigate Prometheus and recover the DNA and tissue samples that he's obviously kept for his own research," Lucy replies.

"Maybe I should come with you," Alex suggests.

"No, go hang out with Kara and Carter. This is the red tape stuff that you hate, if there's any action, we'll call you in, okay?" Lucy reassures her with a light kiss.


	10. Chapter 10

"What a surprise," Max says turning to see General Lane and Lucy entering his office that afternoon.

"I doubt that you are surprised to see me though," Lucy remarks sharply.

"Lord, we pulled your contract, this project was supposed to end," General Lane barks.

"And let all that research go to waste? I don't think so General," Max replies smugly. "I have new funding and a new collaborator, slightly different project plan too."

"This is unsanctioned testing on humans," General Lane protests.

"Not exactly. General, each participant has agreed to be part of the project," Lord explains with a smile, "and this isn't really your jurisdiction, sir. Nor yours ma'am," he adds referring to Lucy.

"Oh, it's within my jurisdiction," she counters quickly. "You are creating metahumans by using the DNA and stem cells of known metahumans, which you acquired under false pretense."

"The DNA and stem cells that you received as part of a government contract and that you were supposed to surrender when the contract was terminated," General Lane points out. "Now, we are here to shut this whole thing down. Do I need to bring in my men or will you turn everything over to us this time?"

"You have no authority to shut anything down. This is a private enterprise and you are on private property, I'll have you escorted out now," Lord snaps, no longer playing nice and smarmy.

"I don't think so," Lucy replies pulling a document out of her breast pocket. "I have a Homeland Security Warrant that allows me to seize control of your lab and I have my own scientists coming in here tomorrow to sort this out," she adds.

"No, no, that's not possible!" Max exclaims loudly before rushing over to look at the document.

"I'm sure that you thought Agent Jensen would give you a heads up, but it turns out he was reassigned to the Detroit office yesterday," Lucy says smugly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I've done everything I promised to do for you, Raf." Lena exclaims as they walk back towards his room with two guards escorting them.

"Yes, but you're still holding my family hostage so that I'll agree to whatever it is that you're doing to me. What have you done to me Ms Luthor?" He asks frantically.

"We've injected you with stem cells to help protect you. The accident has made you quite special, Raf. I don't think that you understand how special. Do you not understand that this project will revolutionize burn treatments across the world? This will change lives," she explains.

"At what cost to me and my family?" He asks, not buying her argument. "What happened to Thomas?"

"Thomas isn't any of your concern. He's being well taken care of now off site," Lena lies easily.

"He escaped last night because he was able to shoot fire out of his hands and the guards had no defense against it," Raf says turning on her. "Will I be able to do that soon? What's to stop me from using this against you to save myself and my family?"

The guards step in, wearing additional protective gear, they don't flinch when one protects Lena and the other steps in front of Raf to block him.

Lena leans around the guard nearest her, "Do I need to remind you that our agreement states that your parents' care is contingent upon your participation in this project?" Lena asks trying to regain control of the situation.

"I may need to renegotiate that now," Raf says throwing fire at her feet making the guard jump back.

The other guard pulls out his weapon to shoot, but Raf sends a blast of fire at the gun and it explodes in his hand as the man tries to throw the gun down.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hank?" Alex says stepping out on to the balcony of the penthouse to answer her phone.

"Alex, we have a situation," Hank begins, explaining that Lucy and the General are at Lord Technologies with a warrant to secure the lab, but now Lena Luthor was assaulted by another fireball wielding man and they are enroute to assist.

"I'm at Cat Grant's. I can be there in five minutes, sir." Alex replies quickly. "My gear is in the truck," she adds.

"Vasquez is on the scene and I'm 5 minutes out, we'll meet up and put a plan together," he says stepping out of the DEO to transform.

"Alex, what's going on? Kara asks stepping out onto the balcony.

"There's another incident near Prometheus, I'm going to help," Alex replies briefly.

"Then I'm coming with you," Kara says firmly.

"Kara, no. General Lane and Lucy are there now, Vasquez and Hank are enroute, we've got this," Alex says reaching out to squeeze her sister's shoulder before going past her.

Kara grabs Alex and turns her around. "Alex, I am still an agent of the DEO and I am available to assist," Kara protests.

"Hank didn't call you in and I'm your senior agent and I'm telling you to stand down," Alex snaps, glancing into the living room where Cat and Carter are watching them argue.

"Stay here, keep them safe," Alex adds gesturing to Cat and Carter. "Those are your orders, got it?" She says waiting for Kara to respond.

Kara huffs and nods, but crosses her arms angrily. Turning away from the window, while Alex leaves the penthouse.

Cat walks out to the balcony. "Kara?"

"Something's happening, I've been told to stand down. I'm useless right now," Kara exclaims crossing the balcony to look out at the city.

"You're not useless Kara, but your role has changed," Cat says softly, touching her shoulder.

"I don't have a role. Someone is endangering the city and I'm helpless to stop them," she points out frustrated as she shrugs Cat's hand off of her shoulder.

"Darling, Alex mentioned that you would stay here to protect us," Cat counters touching her palms together in front of her.

"Protect you? Cat, neither of you are in any danger. Besides, this place is a fortress," Kara quips angrily. "The only one of us being protected right now is me."

"There's nothing wrong with you staying with us and being safe," Cat argues.

"I wasn't sent here to sit around and be safe," Kara shouts at her, before turning around angrily and punching the wall of the balcony. It crumbles around her hand, she looks up at Cat and smiles thankfully before leaping up and flying off the balcony.

"Kara!" Cat calls after her frantically, rushing to the wall to make sure she doesn't crash to the ground before rushing back into the house to find her phone.

"Mom, what just happened?" Carter asks confused. "Kara just flew off the balcony... Mom, this whole time Kara was Supergirl?"

"Um, Carter we need to talk about that, but not right now," Cat says grabbing her cell phone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Susannah, do you have an extra tac suit here?" Alex asks after taking Cat's call.

"Yeah," she replies then glancing up she spots Kara landing a few feet away. "Supergirl is back?" She asks.

"It would appear so, get her in the van and into that tac suit. then try to keep her busy here until I can figure out what we've got. We don't know if her powers are normal yet," Alex says before rushing over to talk with Hank.

"He's taken Lucy hostage, he says that he'll release her in exchange for his parents," Hank explains.

"Okay, so what's the plan?" Alex asks keeping her emotions in check.

"I'm going in to talk to him," Hank explains.

"Sir, no offense, but I'm going with you. I think that I can get through to him and if I can't then you can take over," she counters.

"Just talking, Agent Danvers. We don't know what this guy is capable of," Hank reminds her.

"I can do talking," Alex replies. "Uh and Supergirl is here, sir."

"What? How?" He stammers.

"Apparently her powers returned and she flew here. She's in the van suiting up," Alex explains.

"Vasquez?" Hank says into his coms. "How's the new agent doing?"

"She's suiting up, sir." Vasquez replies evenly. "We're going to do some evaluations before she..."

The back of the van bursts open and suddenly Kara is standing before Hank and Alex in a black tac suit. "I'm ready," she declares placing her hands on her hips in her classic warrior pose.

"You were told to stand down Agent," Alex snaps.

"Supergirl, we've got this under control," Hank replies firmly.

"Is that Supergirl?" A murmur goes through the crowd.

Kara smiles broadly and waves to them.

"Supergirl! Where have you been? Where's your suit?" Questions fly out of the crowd distracting Kara just long enough for Hank and Alex to slip into the building.

Several police officers come over to hold back the crowd among them are Maggie and Brett.

"Good to see you back in action Supergirl," Brett shouts over his shoulder.

Maggie glances at Supergirl, then does a double take because she's certain that she's seen her before.

Kara turns to say something to Alex, but finds herself standing alone with two other agents.

"What's the situation?" Kara asks into her coms.

"We have eyes on Director Lane," Alex states.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ms Grant?" Nick is surprised to see Cat Grant calling him from her private cell. "I'm enroute now, I was golfing with my dad, but I'll be there soon," he explains.

"Mr Farrow, I want you at Lord Technology, there's a rumor that Homeland Security has served a warrant there," Cat replies quickly.

"Uh, Ms Grant, my sources tell me that Supergirl just arrived at Prometheus," Nick counters.

"Yes, and every media outlet will be covering that and we have a crew there. I need you at Lord Technology, can you get there or should I get Olsen and Danvers to cover it?" She asks as a bluff.

"I've got it, I'm ten minutes away," he replies flooring it and praying that the police are all tied up

Cat hangs up the phone and turns back to the tv, where two DEO agents are standing beside Kara, who is now wearing a DEO issue tac suit. "She should have an extra super suit," Cat mumbles to herself.

"Mom, can we talk about Kara now?" Carter asks entering her office.

"Darling, I am sure that you have many questions, but I think that this should wait until Kara returns, don't you?" Cat questions.

"Yes, Mom. But can I just ask how long have you known that she was Supergirl?" Carter asks curiously. "Did you know before you two started dating?

"I did, but honey, I'm not with Supergirl. I'm with Kara," Cat explains carefully.

"But Mom, Kara is Supergirl. So you are dating Supergirl," he protests.

"No, Supergirl is only one facet of Kara," Cat explains. "There is so much more to Kara than being a superhero, Carter. Think about all the things that you loved about her before you knew that she was Supergirl, did any of those change or are there just a few more things that you love?" She questions.

"There's more things that I love," he replies considering her point. "It's still really cool that Kara is Supergirl," Carter admits with a big smile. Then turning to look at the tv, he asks, "Where's her suit?" Then turning back to Cat he exclaims, "Wait, she hasn't been sick. Her powers were out!"

Cat nods slowly. "We'll talk about all of this later," she replies smiling that her beautiful boy is so damn smart. Looking up at the tv, her smile fades as she remembers the angry conversation on the balcony before Kara flew off. Cat can understand Kara's frustration, but she's still angry with her for leaving that way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
"Raf, you don't need to do this. I can help you, my organization is investigating the lab right now. We're taking it over and shutting it down," Lucy blurts out, trying to reason with him now that Alex and Hank are standing in front of them.

"It's not just for me, they have my parents," he explains, his eyes brimming with tears of frustration.

"Who has your parents?" Alex asks.

"Lex and Lena Luthor, my father is an invalid, they depended on me. I paid for the extra care that he needed, when I was hurt we couldn't afford it and the Luthors offered to help," he answers.

"We can help with them," Lucy says wishing that she could turn around to see the man's face. Her father shot him in the leg, but he stopped bleeding almost immediately and doesn't seem to have been affected by the wound any longer.

"Let Director Lane go and we'll sort this out. What they're doing to you isn't right, we know it and we want to help you," Alex replies holding her hands out to show that she's unarmed.

Raf relaxes his grip on Lucy, but doesn't let her go. She can tell that he's considering it, but he's still not sure.

She hears something behind them and she tries not to react, instead she watches Alex's face.

"General Lane has Lena Luthor and Maxwell Lord in custody," Supergirl announces from behind them.

Raf turns quickly and flames shoot out of his hands, Kara counters with her arctic breath, then darts in and snatches Lucy from his grasp before he can react.

Alex quickly moves in front of Lucy and Raf turns to face them.

"It's okay, we don't want to hurt you. We just want to help you," she explains.

He stands to the side glancing from Alex to Supergirl. "No one can help me, they've made me into a monster," he yells.

"Let us try to help you," Lucy pleads, moving around Alex. "Raf, we're not the military. We specialize in people like you and Supergirl works with us," she explains.

"It's true, Raf." Supergirl adds. "They have helped me understand my abilities and powers, they can do the same for you."

"I just want to be normal again," he replies.

"Then let us take you to our base and see if we can figure out how to do that," Alex suggests.

"What about my parents?" He asks.

"We stopped the van that was taking them back to Metropolis," Hank informs him. "They'll be at the base waiting for you," he adds.

"Okay," Raf says the fight going out of him.

"Supergirl, do you want to escort him out to the truck?" Hank asks.

"Shouldn't Director Lane and Agent Danvers get that honor sir?" Supergirl questions.

"I think they can follow you out, but we all think you should lead," he replies as the others nod in agreement. "Welcome back Supergirl," Hank adds warmly.

"It's great to be back, Hank." Kara replies smiling broadly as she takes Raf's arm to lead him out to the waiting transport.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: last chapter and I'm going to pause the series here. But don't worry, I have several other stories that I've been working on that I'll post in the meantime!


End file.
